Venue Type & Location
Performance Spaces
Overview
Eastry Manor (now Court), located E of Canterbury, contains possibly the oldest extant hall in England on the site of what was once the palace of the kings of Kent. Remnants of the original early 7th c. edifice are still visible but the main part of the present house is a late 18th c. red brick reconstruction.The well-documented history of the property has left a complex architecture that bears witness to the building, rebuilding and demolition that has taken place on this site over the centuries.
Performance History
There are payments in the Christ Church Priory accounts for various entertainers, minstrels and players at Eastry Manor recorded from 1340/1--1447.
Current Status
History of the Venue
late 10th c. Eastry became the property of Christ Church Priory, Canterbury.
1294--5 Timber hall built, replacing an earlier thatched-roof building. A chamber may have been constructed at this time as well, likely at the upper end.
1314--15 New kitchen built.
1318--19 A post was added to the upper end of the hall to strengthen a structural flaw.
1330--1 Stone walls, probably flint from Folkestone, replaced the original timber. Major repairs and re-roofing done.
14th--early 15th c. 2-storey timber-framed cross-wing built at the low (N) end.
1500--40 2-storey timber range built as an extension at the NE end of the low end wing.
1540 Granted to the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury at the Dissolution. Subsequently leased to various families, the first being the Nevinsons.
late 16th c. A chimney was built in the hall and a screen erected at the low end. A floor was likely added at this time as well.
1617--41 Leased to the Palmer family.
1647--1805 Leased to the Bargrave family.
17th c. 3-storey block added to the NW corner of the low end wing.
1675 Old kitchen demolished.
late 17th/early 18th c. Small range added at the N end joining the 2 later extensions to the hall block.
1786 Many of the Georgian features of the present house were constructed by the Bargrave family. New brick W facade and low-pitched roof added. The top storey of the 3-storey block was removed and most of the hall demolished; a new brick building replaced the medieval hall. The ancient chapel was converted into a kitchen.
1805--59 Leased to the Bridger family.
late 19th c. 2nd storey added to the hall and the original roof demolished.
Record Source
REED Kent: Diocese of Canterbury 1.41--2, 49, 65, 67, 69
Patrons who owned this venue
[No data found.]
Bibliographic Sources
- Bones, Jack. Eastry 979--1979: Lathe, Hundred and Manor. Sandwich: Sandwich Local History Society, 1979
- Brayley, E.W. The Beauties of England and Wales; or Delineations, topographical, historical and descriptive of each county. 18 vols. London: Vernor and Hood, 1801--16
- Emery, Anthony. Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales 1300–1500. 3 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1996--2006
- Hasted, Edward. The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent. 1st ed [1778]. 12 vols. Canterbury: Printed for the author by Simmons and Kirkby, 1778
- Igglesden, Charles. A Saunter Through Kent with Pen and Pencil. 38 vols. Ashford: Kentish Express, 1900--194x
- Newman, John. North East and East Kent. Harmondsworth and New York: Penguin, 1983
- Oaken Homes.
- Pearson, Sarah, P.S. Barnwell and A.T. Adams. A Gazetteer of Medieval Houses in Kent. London: HMSO for the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, 1994
- Philipott, Thomas [and John Philipott]. Villare Cantianum: Or Kent Surveyed and Illustrated. 1659. London: William Godbid, 1664
- Shaw, William Francis. Liber Estriae; or Memorials of the Royal Ville and Parish of Eastry in the County of Kent. London: John Russell Smith, 1870