Page:Notes on the churches in the counties of Kent, Sussex, and Surrey.djvu/441

This page has been validated.
KENT.
369

him as "quondam prebendarius magne misse in monasterio de West Malkling," sic, "acvicarius...de est Malkling," sic. The roodloft was placed westward of the chancel arch, the passages on either side being yet visible. The south wall seems coeval with the tower, that of the northern side has been rebuilt.

210. Malling, West.—The old nave of this church fell down toward the end of the last century, when the present structure was erected. The Norm. tower has no staircase. Beside those already mentioned, there is another small brass of a civilian, Will. Skott, gentleman, 1532. Abbey.—The surviving portion of the cloisters, now included in the residence, are rich and elegant E.E., with trefoiled arches. St. Leonard's.—Just below the tower is a small piece of, apparently, ancient wall, running eastward; but it is very difficult to judge of the age of masonry formed with the stone of the district. No record nor tradition can be ascertained respecting the site of the chapel of St. Leonard.

212. St. Margaret's, Darent.—In the statements referring to this place and South Darent (compare the Notes above) there appears to be some confusion, demanding further research (which I was unable to bestow) for its elucidation. On inquiring in the neighbourhood for St. Margaret's, I learned that a spot was known under that name, and as the site of an ancient chapel, which was said to have stood in a field, but that every vestige of it was removed some years ago. This then could not have been the "building used as a malthouse," mentioned by Hasted, (see above, p. 100). Wherefore the inference seems tolerably clear, that, as already had been strongly suspected, beside the church or chapel of St. Margaret, at Hilles, there must have been another at South Darent, of which it remains to be ascertained whether any portion yet exists.

230. Nettlested.—The church, "a small building consisting merely of a tower, nave, and chancel, retains most of its original glazing. The south windows of the nave were almost totally destroyed by a storm many years ago, &c." The date of the glass is the fifteenth century, that of the chancel, placed A.D. 1465, being more simple than that of the nave. (An Inquiry into the Difference of Style observable in ancient Glass Paintings, &c., by an Amateur, I, 112. Oxford, 1847.)

235. Nockholt.—A subsequent collation having shown some errors in the curious extract from the Reigate MS. volume, as presented above p. 118, a corrected copy and translation are here given, the uncertainty being marked, wherever any question occurred as to the true reading.

"Temporibus Anglorum Regis Henrici tercii, filii regis Johannis, qui in Anglia regnabat LVI annis et diebus XX, erat quidam Radulphus Scot manens in parochia de Chelesfeld, juxta altam stratam regiam inter Farnbergh et Halstede jacentem, ubi crux est vocata Scottes Crouch. Qui quidem Kadulfus de loco illo se transtulit apud Ocolte, terras et varias ibidem possessiones emendo, quandamque construendo ibi mansionem vocatam la Halle. Propter quod locus ille vocatur Scottes Ocolte. Et quia prefatus Radulfus et ceteri inhabitantes dictum locum, pro divinis audiendis officiis, apud Chivenyng et alibi circumquaque se a parochiali ecclesia sua de Orpyntone divertebant; et quia ob loci distanciam a dicta parochiali ecclesia multa ibidem animarum contingebant pericula, ipse Radulfus Scot, et quidam Herveus (?) Goldsmyth, laicus (?) a deo, ut creditur, inspirati, in area viridi apud Ocolte, vocata Hertlepe, ubi diebus festivis communis accessus laicorum fiebat per inhabitantes dictum locum, quandam Capellam in honore beate Katerine virginis de suis construi bonis fecerunt. Primo lapide per dictum Radulfum in ipsius Capelle posito fundamento. Et post construccionem dicte Capelle ipse Radulfus Scot, de terris sibi adquisitis, de modica area juxta Cimiterium pro domibus capellani ibidem, ac etiam de quadam crofta sua ex opposite dicte Capelle situata, pro construccionem domorum ad colleccionem