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Frequently Asked Questions
{We offer a comprehensive range of landscaping services, including garden design, lawn maintenance, tree and shrub care, hardscape construction, irrigation system installation, and more. | Explore our landscaping offerings, covering garden design, lawn maintenance, tree and shrub care, hardscape construction, irrigation system installation, and more.
With our landscaping services, we aim to enhance your property’s allure by creating exquisite, well-maintained outdoor areas.
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Russian Federation, Architecture of Holy Moscow, Silver Cupolas of Church of Saint Gregory of Neocaesarea with the Bell Clock tower (founded in 1445, built in 1679), Bolshaya Polyanka street, Yakimanka district. Православнаѧ Црковь. traveladventureeverywhere.blogspot.com/2017/08/moscow-voy...
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ALBANIA
Albanian Trilogy: A Series of Devious Stratagems
Armando Lulaj
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture. Curator: Marco Scotini. Deputy Curator: Andris Brinkmanis. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale
ANDORRA
Inner Landscapes
Roqué, Joan Xandri
Commissioner: Henry Périer. Deputy Commissioner: Joana Baygual, Sebastià Petit, Francesc Rodríguez
Curator: Paolo de Grandis, Josep M. Ubach. Venue: Spiazzi, Castello 3865
ANGOLA
On Ways of Travelling
António Ole, Binelde Hyrcan, Délio Jasse, Francisco Vidal, Nelo Teixeira
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture, Rita Guedes Tavares. Curator: António Ole. Deputy Curator: Antonia Gaeta. Venue: Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello - Palazzo Pisani, San Marco 2810
ARGENTINA
The Uprising of Form
Juan Carlos Diste´fano
Commissioner: Magdalena Faillace. Curator: Mari´a Teresa Constantin. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Sale d’Armi
ARMENIA, Republic of
Armenity / Haiyutioun
Haig Aivazian, Lebanon; Nigol Bezjian, Syria/USA; Anna Boghiguian Egypt/Canada; Hera Büyüktasçiyan, Turkey; Silvina Der-Meguerditchian, Argentina/Germany; Rene Gabri & Ayreen Anastas, Iran/Palestine/USA; Mekhitar Garabedian, Belgium; Aikaterini Gegisian, Greece; Yervant Gianikian & Angela Ricci Lucchi, Italy; Aram Jibilian, USA; Nina Katchadourian, USA/Finland; Melik Ohanian, France; Mikayel Ohanjanyan, Armenia/Italy; Rosana Palazyan, Brazil; Sarkis, Turkey/France; Hrair Sarkissian, Syria/UK
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia. Deputy Commissioner: Art for the World, Mekhitarist Congregation of San Lazzaro Island, Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in Italy, Vartan Karapetian. Curator: Adelina Cüberyan von Fürstenberg. Venue: Monastery and Island of San Lazzaro degli Armeni
AUSTRALIA
Fiona Hall: Wrong Way Time
Fiona Hall
Commissioner: Simon Mordant AM. Deputy Commissioner: Charles Green. Curator: Linda Michael. Scientific Committee: Simon Mordant AM, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Max Delany, Rachel Kent, Danie Mellor, Suhanya Raffel, Leigh Robb. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
AUSTRIA
Heimo Zobernig
Commissioner: Yilmaz Dziewior. Curator: Yilmaz Dziewior. Scientific Committee: Friends of the Venice Biennale. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
AZERBAIJAN, Republic of
Beyond the Line
Ashraf Murad, Javad Mirjavadov, Tofik Javadov, Rasim Babayev, Fazil Najafov, Huseyn Hagverdi, Shamil Najafzada
Commissioner: Heydar Aliyev Foundation. Curators: de Pury de Pury, Emin Mammadov. Venue: Palazzo Lezze, Campo S.Stefano, San Marco 2949
Vita Vitale
Edward Burtynsky, Mircea Cantor, Loris Cecchini, Gordon Cheung, Khalil Chishtee, Tony Cragg, Laura Ford, Noemie Goudal, Siobhán Hapaska, Paul Huxley, IDEA laboratory and Leyla Aliyeva, Chris Jordan with Rebecca Clark and Helena S.Eitel, Tania Kovats, Aida Mahmudova, Sayyora Muin, Jacco Olivier, Julian Opie, Julian Perry, Mike Perry, Bas Princen, Stephanie Quayle, Ugo Rondinone, Graham Stevens, Diana Thater, Andy Warhol, Bill Woodrow, Erwin Wurm, Rose Wylie
Commissioner: Heydar Aliyev Foundation. Curators: Artwise: Susie Allen, Laura Culpan, Dea Vanagan. Venue: Ca’ Garzoni, San Marco 3416
BELARUS, Republic of
War Witness Archive
Konstantin Selikhanov
Commissioner: Natallia Sharanhovich. Deputy Commissioners: Alena Vasileuskaya, Kamilia Yanushkevich. Curators: Aleksei Shinkarenko, Olga Rybchinskaya. Scientific Committee: Dmitry Korol, Daria Amelkovich, Julia Kondratyuk, Sergei Jeihala, Sheena Macfarlane, Yuliya Heisik, Hanna Samarskaya, Taras Kaliahin, Aliaksandr Stasevich. Venue: Riva San Biagio, Castello 2145
BELGIUM
Personnes et les autres
Vincent Meessen and Guests, Mathieu K. Abonnenc, Sammy Baloji, James Beckett, Elisabetta Benassi, Patrick Bernier & Olive Martin, Tamar Guimara~es & Kasper Akhøj, Maryam Jafri, Adam Pendleton
Commissioner: Wallonia-Brussels Federation and Wallonia-Brussels International. Curator: Katerina Gregos. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
COSTA RICA
"Costa Rica, Paese di pace, invita a un linguaggio universale d'intesa tra i popoli".
Andrea Prandi, Beatrice Gallori, Beth Parin, Biagio Schembari, Carla Castaldo, Celestina Avanzini, Cesare Berlingeri, Erminio Tansini, Fabio Capitanio, Fausto Beretti, Giovan Battista Pedrazzini, Giovanni Lamberti, Giovanni Tenga, Iana Zanoskar, Jim Prescott, Leonardo Beccegato, Liliana Scocco, Lucia Bolzano, Marcela Vicuna, Marco Bellagamba, Marco Lodola, Maria Gioia dell’Aglio, Mario Bernardinello, Massimo Meucci, Nacha Piattini, Omar Ronda, Renzo Eusebi, Tita Patti, Romina Power, Rubens Fogacci, Silvio di Pietro, Stefano Sichel, Tino Stefanoni, Ufemia Ritz, Ugo Borlenghi, Umberto Mariani, Venere Chillemi, Jacqueline Gallicot Madar, Massimo Onnis, Fedora Spinelli
Commissioner: Ileana Ordonez Chacon. Curator: Gregorio Rossi. Venue: Palazzo Bollani
CROATIA
Studies on Shivering: The Third Degree
Damir Ocko
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture. Curator: Marc Bembekoff. Venue: Palazzo Pisani, S. Marina
CUBA
El artista entre la individualidad y el contexto
Lida Abdul, Celia-Yunior, Grethell Rasúa, Giuseppe Stampone, LinYilin, Luis Edgardo Gómez Armenteros, Olga Chernysheva, Susana Pilar Delahante Matienzo
Commissioner: Miria Vicini. Curators: Jorge Fernández Torres, Giacomo Zaza. Venue: San Servolo Island
CYPRUS, Republic of
Two Days After Forever
Christodoulos Panayiotou
Commissioner: Louli Michaelidou. Deputy Commissioner: Angela Skordi. Curator: Omar Kholeif. Deputy Curator: Daniella Rose King. Venue: Palazzo Malipiero, Sestiere San Marco 3079
CZECH Republic and SLOVAK Republic
Apotheosis
Jirí David
Commissioner: Adam Budak. Deputy Commissioner: Barbara Holomkova. Curator: Katarina Rusnakova. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
ECUADOR
Gold Water: Apocalyptic Black Mirrors
Maria Veronica Leon Veintemilla in collaboration with Lucia Vallarino Peet
Commissioner: Andrea Gonzàlez Sanchez. Deputy Commissioner: PDG Arte Communications. Curator: Ileana Cornea. Deputy Curator: Maria Veronica Leon Veintemilla. Venue: Istituto Santa Maria della Pietà, Castello 3701
ESTONIA
NSFW. From the Abyss of History
Jaanus Samma
Commissioner: Maria Arusoo. Curator: Eugenio Viola. Venue: Palazzo Malipiero, campo San Samuele, San Marco 3199
EGYPT
CAN YOU SEE
Ahmed Abdel Fatah, Gamal Elkheshen, Maher Dawoud
Commissioner: Hany Al Ashkar. Curator: Ministry of Culture. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
FINLAND (Pavilion Alvar Aalto)
Hours, Years, Aeons
IC-98
Commissioner: Frame Visual Art Finland, Raija Koli. Curator: Taru Elfving. Deputy Curator: Anna Virtanen. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
FRANCE
revolutions
Céleste Boursier-Mougenot
Commissioner: Institut français, with Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication. Curator: Emma Lavigne. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
GEORGIA
Crawling Border
Rusudan Gobejishvili Khizanishvili, Irakli Bluishvili, Dimitri Chikvaidze, Joseph Sabia
Commissioner: Ana Riaboshenko. Curator: Nia Mgaloblishvili. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Sale d’Armi
GERMANY
Fabrik
Jasmina Metwaly / Philip Rizk, Olaf Nicolai, Hito Steyerl, Tobias Zielony
Commissioner: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen) on behalf of the Federal Foreign Office. Deputy Commissioner: Elke aus dem Moore, Nina Hülsmeier. Curator: Florian Ebner. Deputy Curator: Tanja Milewsky, Ilina Koralova. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
GREAT BRITAIN
Sarah Lucas
Commissioner: Emma Dexter. Curator: Richard Riley. Deputy Curator: Katrina Schwarz. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
GRENADA *
Present Nearness
Oliver Benoit, Maria McClafferty, Asher Mains, Francesco Bosso and Carmine Ciccarini, Guiseppe Linardi
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture. Deputy Commissioner: Susan Mains. Curator: Susan Mains. Deputy Curator: Francesco Elisei. Venue: Opera don Orione Artigianelli, Sala Tiziano, Fondamenta delle Zattere ai Gesuati, Dorsoduro 919
GREECE
Why Look at Animals? AGRIMIKÁ.
Maria Papadimitriou
Commissioner: Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Education and Religious Affairs. Curator: Gabi Scardi. Deputy Curator: Alexios Papazacharias. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
BRAZIL
So much that it doesn't fit here
Antonio Manuel, André Komatsu, Berna Reale
Commissioner: Luis Terepins. Curator: Luiz Camillo Osorio. Deputy Curator: Cauê Alves. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
CANADA
Canadassimo
BGL
Commissioner: National Gallery of Canada, Marc Mayer. Deputy Commissioner: National Gallery of Canada, Yves Théoret. Curator: Marie Fraser. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
CHILE
Poéticas de la disidencia | Poetics of dissent: Paz Errázuriz - Lotty Rosenfeld
Paz Errázuriz, Lotty Rosenfeld
Commissioner: Antonio Arèvalo. Deputy Commissioner: Juan Pablo Vergara Undurraga. Curator: Nelly Richard. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale - Artiglierie
CHINA, People’s Republic of
Other Future
LIU Jiakun, LU Yang, TAN Dun, WEN Hui/Living Dance Studio, WU Wenguang/Caochangdi Work Station
Commissioner: China Arts and Entertainment Group, CAEG. Deputy Commissioners: Zhang Yu, Yan Dong. Curator: Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation. Scientific Committee: Fan Di’an, Zhang Zikang, Zhu Di, Gao Shiming, Zhu Qingsheng, Pu Tong, Shang Hui. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Giardino delle Vergini
GUATEMALA
Sweet Death
Emma Anticoli Borza, Sabrina Bertolelli, Mariadolores Castellanos, Max Leiva, Pier Domenico Magri, Adriana Montalto, Elmar Rojas (Elmar René Rojas Azurdia), Paolo Schmidlin, Mónica Serra, Elsie Wunderlich, Collettivo La Grande Bouffe
Commissioner: Daniele Radini Tedeschi. Curators: Stefania Pieralice, Carlo Marraffa, Elsie Wunderlich. Deputy Curators: Luciano Carini, Simone Pieralice. Venue: Officina delle Zattere, Dorsoduro 947, Fondamenta Nani
HOLY SEE
Commissioner: Em.mo Card. Gianfranco Ravasi, Presidente del Pontificio Consiglio della Cultura. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Sale d’Armi
HUNGARY
Sustainable Identities
Szilárd Cseke
Commissioner: Monika Balatoni. Deputy Commissioner: István Puskás, Sándor Fodor, Anna Karády. Curator: Kinga German. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
ICELAND
Christoph Büchel
Commissioner: Björg Stefánsdóttir. Curator: Nína Magnúsdóttir. Venue: to be confirmed
INDONESIA, Republic of
Komodo Voyage
Heri Dono
Commissioner: Sapta Nirwandar. Deputy Commissioner: Soedarmadji JH Damais. Curator: Carla Bianpoen, Restu Imansari Kusumaningrum. Scientific Committee: Franco Laera, Asmudjo Jono Irianto, Watie Moerany, Elisabetta di Mambro. Venue: Venue: Arsenale
IRAN
Iranian Highlights
Samira Alikhanzaradeh, Mahmoud Bakhshi Moakhar, Jamshid Bayrami, Mohammed Ehsai
The Great Game
Lida Abdul, Bani Abidi, Adel Abidin, Amin Agheai, Ghodratollah Agheli, Shahriar Ahmadi, Parastou Ahovan, Farhad Ahrarnia, Rashad Alakbarov, Nazgol Ansarinia, Reza Aramesh, Alireza Astaneh, Sonia Balassanian, Mahmoud Bakhshi, Moakhar Wafaa Bilal, Mehdi Farhadian, Monir Farmanfarmaian, Shadi Ghadirian, Babak Golkar, Shilpa Gupta, Ghasem Hajizadeh, Shamsia Hassani, Sahand Hesamiyan, Sitara Ibrahimova, Pouran Jinchi, Amar Kanwar, Babak Kazemi, Ryas Komu, Ahmad Morshedloo, Farhad Moshiri, Mehrdad Mohebali, Huma Mulji, Azad Nanakeli, Jamal Penjweny, Imran Qureshi, Sara Rahbar, Rashid Rana, T.V. Santhosh, Walid Siti, Mohsen Taasha Wahidi, Mitra Tabrizian, Parviz Tanavoli, Newsha Tavakolian, Sadegh Tirafkan, Hema Upadhyay, Saira Wasim
Commissioner: Majid Mollanooruzi. Deputy Commissioners: Marco Meneguzzo, Mazdak Faiznia. Curators: Marco Meneguzzo, Mazdak Faiznia. Venue: Calle San Giovanni 1074/B, Cannaregio
IRAQ
Commissioner: Ruya Foundation for Contemporary Culture in Iraq (RUYA). Deputy Commissioner: Nuova Icona - Associazione Culturale per le Arti. Curator: Philippe Van Cauteren. Venue: Ca' Dandolo, San Polo 2879
IRELAND
Adventure: Capital
Sean Lynch
Commissioner: Mike Fitzpatrick. Curator: Woodrow Kernohan. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale - Artiglierie
ISRAEL
Tsibi Geva | Archeology of the Present
Tsibi Geva
Commissioner: Arad Turgem, Michael Gov. Curator: Hadas Maor. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
ITALY
Ministero dei Beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo - Direzione Generale Arte e Architettura Contemporanee e Periferie Urbane. Commissioner: Federica Galloni. Curator: Vincenzo Trione. Venue: Padiglione Italia, Tese delle Vergini at Arsenale
JAPAN
The Key in the Hand
Chiharu Shiota
Commissioner: The Japan Foundation. Deputy Commissioner: Yukihiro Ohira, Manako Kawata and Haruka Nakajima. Curator: Hitoshi Nakano. Venue : Pavilion at Giardini
KENYA
Creating Identities
Yvonne Apiyo Braendle-Amolo, Qin Feng, Shi Jinsong, Armando Tanzini, Li Zhanyang, Lan Zheng Hui, Li Gang, Double Fly Art Center
Commissioner: Paola Poponi. Curator: Sandro Orlandi Stagl. Deputy Curator: Ding Xuefeng. Venue: San Servolo Island
KOREA, Republic of
The Ways of Folding Space & Flying
MOON Kyungwon & JEON Joonho
Commissioner: Sook-Kyung Lee. Curator: Sook-Kyung Lee. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
KOSOVO, Republic of
Speculating on the blue
Flaka Haliti
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports. Curator: Nicolaus Schafhausen. Deputy Curator: Katharina Schendl. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale - Artiglierie
LATVIA
Armpit
Katrina Neiburga, Andris Eglitis
Commissioner: Solvita Krese (Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art). Deputy Commissioner: Kitija Vasiljeva. Curator: Kaspars Vanags. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale
LITHUANIA
Museum
Dainius Liškevicius
Commissioner: Vytautas Michelkevicius. Deputy Commissioner: Rasa Antanaviciute. Curator: Vytautas Michelkevicius. Venue: Palazzo Zenobio, Fondamenta del Soccorso 2569, Dorsoduro
LUXEMBOURG, Grand Duchy of
Paradiso Lussemburgo
Filip Markiewicz
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture. Deputy Commissioner: MUDAM Luxembourg. Curator: Paul Ardenne. Venue: Cà Del Duca, Corte del Duca Sforza, San Marco 3052
MACEDONIA, Former Yugoslavian Republic of
We are all in this alone
Hristina Ivanoska and Yane Calovski
Commissioner: Maja Nedelkoska Brzanova, National Gallery of Macedonia. Deputy Commissioner: Olivija Stoilkova. Curator: Basak Senova. Deputy Curator: Maja Cankulovska Mihajlovska. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale - Sale d’Armi
MAURITIUS *
From One Citizen You Gather an Idea
Sultana Haukim, Nirmal Hurry, Alix Le Juge, Olga Jürgenson, Helge Leiberg, Krishna Luchoomun, Neermala Luckeenarain, Kavinash Thomoo, Bik Van Der Pol, Laure Prouvost, Vitaly Pushnitsky, Römer + Römer
Commissioner: pARTage. Curators: Alfredo Cramerotti, Olga Jürgenson. Venue: Palazzo Flangini - Canareggio 252
MEXICO
Possesing Nature
Tania Candiani, Luis Felipe Ortega
Commissioner: Tomaso Radaelli. Deputy Commissioner: Magdalena Zavala Bonachea. Curator: Karla Jasso. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Sale d’Armi
MONGOLIA *
Other Home
Enkhbold Togmidshiirev, Unen Enkh
Commissioner: Gantuya Badamgarav, MCASA. Curator: Uranchimeg Tsultemin. Scientific Committee: David A Ross, Boldbaatar Chultemin. Venue: European Cultural Centre - Palazzo Mora
MONTENEGRO
,,Ti ricordi Sjecaš li se You Remember "
Aleksandar Duravcevic
Commissioner/Curator: Anastazija Miranovic. Deputy Commissioner: Danica Bogojevic. Venue: Palazzo Malipiero (piano terra), San Marco 3078-3079/A, Ramo Malipiero
MOZAMBIQUE, Republic of *
Theme: Coexistence of Tradition and Modernity in Contemporary Mozambique
Mozambique Artists
Commissioner: Joel Matias Libombo. Deputy Commissioner: Gilberto Paulino Cossa. Curator: Comissariado-Geral para a Expo Milano 2015. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale
NETHERLANDS, The
herman de vries - to be all ways to be
herman de vries
Commissioner: Mondriaan Fund. Curators: Colin Huizing, Cees de Boer. Venue: Pavilion ar Giardini
NEW ZEALAND
Secret Power
Simon Denny
Commissioner: Heather Galbraith. Curator: Robert Leonard. Venue: Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Marco Polo Airport
NORDIC PAVILION (NORWAY)
Camille Norment
Commissioner: OCA, Office for Contemporary Art Norway. Curator: Katya García-Antón. Deputy Curator: Antonio Cataldo. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
PERU
Misplaced Ruins
Gilda Mantilla and Raimond Chaves
Commissioner: Armando Andrade de Lucio. Curator: Max Hernández-Calvo. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Sale d’Armi
PHILIPPINES
Tie a String Around the World
Manuel Conde, Carlos Francisco, Manny Montelibano, Jose Tence Ruiz
Commissioner: National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), Felipe M. de Leon Jr. Curator: Patrick D. Flores. Venue: European Cultural Centre - Palazzo Mora
POLAND
Halka/Haiti. 18°48’05”N 72°23’01”W
C.T. Jasper, Joanna Malinowska
Commissioner: Hanna Wróblewska. Deputy Commissioner: Joanna Wasko. Curator: Magdalena Moskalewicz. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
PORTUGAL
I Will Be Your Mirror / poems and problems
João Louro
Commissioner/Curator: María de Corral. Venue: Palazzo Loredan, campo S. Stefano
ROMANIA
Adrian Ghenie: Darwin’s Room
Adrian Ghenie
Commissioner: Monica Morariu. Deputy Commissioner: Alexandru Damian. Curator: Mihai Pop. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
Inventing the Truth. On Fiction and Reality
Michele Bressan, Carmen Dobre-Hametner, Alex Mirutziu, Lea Rasovszky, Stefan Sava, Larisa Sitar
Commissioner: Monica Morariu. Deputy Commissioner: Alexandru Damian. Curator: Diana Marincu. Deputy Curators: Ephemair Association (Suzana Dan and Silvia Rogozea). Venue: New Gallery of the Romanian Institute for Culture and Humanistic Research in Venice
RUSSIA
The Green Pavilion
Irina Nakhova
Commissioner: Stella Kesaeva. Curator: Margarita Tupitsyn. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
SERBIA
United Dead Nations
Ivan Grubanov
Commissioner: Lidija Merenik. Deputy Commissioner: Ana Bogdanovic. Curator: Lidija Merenik. Deputy Curator: Ana Bogdanovic. Scientific Committee: Jovan Despotovic. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
SAN MARINO
Repubblica di San Marino “ Friendship Project “ China
Xu De Qi, Liu Dawei, Liu Ruo Wang, Ma Yuan, Li Lei, Zhang Hong Mei, Eleonora Mazza, Giuliano Giulianelli, Giancarlo Frisoni, Tony Margiotta, Elisa Monaldi, Valentina Pazzini
Commissioner: Istituti Culturali della Repubblica di San Marino. Curator: Vincenzo Sanfo. Venue: TBC
SEYCHELLES, Republic of *
A Clockwork Sunset
George Camille, Léon Wilma Loïs Radegonde
Commissioner: Seychelles Art Projects Foundation. Curators: Sarah J. McDonald, Victor Schaub Wong. Venue: European Cultural Centre - Palazzo Mora
SINGAPORE
Sea State
Charles Lim Yi Yong
Commissioner: Paul Tan, National Arts Council, Singapore. Curator: Shabbir Hussain Mustafa. Scientific Committee: Eugene Tan, Kathy Lai, Ahmad Bin Mashadi, June Yap, Emi Eu, Susie Lingham, Charles Merewether, Randy Chan. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Sale d’Armi
SLOVENIA, Republic of
UTTER / The violent necessity for the embodied presence of hope
JAŠA
Commissioner: Simona Vidmar. Deputy Commissioner: Jure Kirbiš. Curators: Michele Drascek and Aurora Fonda. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale - Artiglierie
SPAIN
Los Sujetos (The Subjects)
Pepo Salazar, Cabello/Carceller, Francesc Ruiz, + Salvador Dalí
Commissioner: Ministerio Asuntos Exteriores. Gobierno de España. Curator: Marti Manen. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC
Origini della civiltà
Narine Ali, Ehsan Alar, Felipe Cardeña, Fouad Dahdouh, Aldo Damioli, Svitlana Grebenyuk, Mauro Reggio, Liu Shuishi, Nass ouh Zaghlouleh, Andrea Zucchi, Helidon Xhixha
Commissioner: Christian Maretti. Curator: Duccio Trombadori. Venue: Redentore – Giudecca, San Servolo Island
SWEDEN
Excavation of the Image: Imprint, Shadow, Spectre, Thought
Lina Selander
Commissioner: Ann-Sofi Noring. Curator: Lena Essling. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale
SWITZERLAND
Our Product
Pamela Rosenkranz
Commissioner: Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, Sandi Paucic and Marianne Burki. Deputy-Commissioner: Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, Rachele Giudici Legittimo. Curator: Susanne Pfeffer. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
THAILAND
Earth, Air, Fire & Water
Kamol Tassananchalee
Commissioner: Chai Nakhonchai, Office of Contemporary Art and Culture (OCAC), Ministry of Culture. Curator: Richard David Garst. Deputy Curator: Pongdej Chaiyakut. Venue: Paradiso Gallerie, Giardini della Biennale, Castello 1260
TURKEY
Respiro
Sarkis
Commissioner: Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts. Curator: Defne Ayas. Deputy Curator: Ozge Ersoy. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Sale d’Armi
TUVALU
Crossing the Tide
Vincent J.F. Huang
Commissioner: Taukelina Finikaso. Deputy Commissioner: Temate Melitiana. Curator: Thomas J. Berghuis. Scientific Committee: Andrea Bonifacio. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale
UKRAINE
Hope!
Yevgenia Belorusets, Nikita Kadan, Zhanna Kadyrova, Mykola Ridnyi & SerhiyZhadan, Anna Zvyagintseva, Open Group, Artem Volokitin
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture. Curator: Björn Geldhof. Venue: Riva dei Sette Martiri
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
1980 – Today: Exhibitions in the United Arab Emirates
Abdullah Al Saadi, Abdul Qader Al Rais, Abdulraheem Salim, Abdulrahman Zainal, Ahmed Al Ansari, Ahmed Sharif, Hassan Sharif, Mohamed Yousif, Mohammed Abdullah Bulhiah, Mohammed Al Qassab, Mohammed Kazem, Moosa Al Halyan, Najat Meky, Obaid Suroor, Salem Jawhar
Commissioner: Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation. Curator: Hoor Al Qasimi. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Sale d'Armi
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Joan Jonas: They Come to Us Without a Word
Joan Jonas
Commissioner: Paul C. Ha. Deputy Commissioner: MIT List Visual Arts Center. Curators: Ute Meta Bauer, Paul C. Ha. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
URUGUAY
Global Myopia II (Pencil & Paper)
Marco Maggi
Commissioner: Ricardo Pascale. Curator: Patricia Bentancour. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
VENEZUELA, Bolivarian Republic of
Te doy mi palabra (I give you my word)
Argelia Bravo, Félix Molina (Flix)
Commissioner: Oscar Sotillo Meneses. Deputy Commissioner: Reinaldo Landaeta Díaz. Curator: Oscar Sotillo Meneses. Deputy Curator: Morella Jurado. Scientific Committee: Carlos Pou Ruan. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
ZIMBABWE, Republic of
Pixels of Ubuntu/Unhu: - Exploring the social and cultural identities of the 21st century.
Chikonzero Chazunguza, Masimba Hwati, Gareth Nyandoro
Commissioner: Doreen Sibanda. Curator: Raphael Chikukwa. Deputy Curator: Tafadzwa Gwetai. Scientific Committee: Saki Mafundikwa, Biggie Samwanda, Fabian Kangai, Reverend Paul Damasane, Nontsikelelo Mutiti, Stephen Garan'anga, Dominic Benhura. Venue: Santa Maria della Pieta
ITALO-LATIN AMERICAN INSTITUTE
Voces Indígenas
Commissioner: Sylvia Irrazábal. Curator: Alfons Hug. Deputy Curator: Alberto Saraiva. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale
ARGENTINA
Sofia Medici and Laura Kalauz
PLURINATIONAL STATE OF BOLIVIA
Sonia Falcone and José Laura Yapita
BRAZIL
Adriana Barreto
Paulo Nazareth
CHILE
Rainer Krause
COLOMBIA
León David Cobo,
María Cristina Rincón and Claudia Rodríguez
COSTA RICA
Priscilla Monge
ECUADOR
Fabiano Kueva
EL SALVADOR
Mauricio Kabistan
GUATEMALA
Sandra Monterroso
HAITI
Barbara Prézeau Stephenson
HONDURAS
Leonardo González
PANAMA
Humberto Vélez
NICARAGUA
Raúl Quintanilla
PARAGUAY
Erika Meza
Javier López
PERU
José Huamán Turpo
URUGUAY
Gustavo Tabares
Ellen Slegers
001 Inverso Mundus. AES+F
Magazzino del Sale n. 5, Dorsoduro, 265 (Fondamenta delle Zattere ai Saloni); Palazzo Nani Mocenigo, Dorsoduro, 960
May 9th – October 31st
Organization: VITRARIA Glass + A Museum
www.vitraria.comwww.inversomundus.com
Catalonia in Venice: Singularity
Cantieri Navali, Castello, 40 (Calle Quintavalle)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Institut Ramon Llull
www.llull.cat
venezia2015.llull.cat
Conversion. Recycle Group
Chiesa di Sant’Antonin, Castello (Campo Sant’Antonin)
May 6th - October 31st
Organization: Moscow Museum of Modern Art
www.mmoma.ru/
Dansaekhwa
Palazzo Contarini-Polignac, Dorsoduro, 874 (Accademia)
May 7th – August 15th
Organization: The Boghossian Foundation
www.villaempain.com
Dispossession
Palazzo Donà Brusa, Campo San Polo, 2177
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: European Capital of Culture Wroclaw 2016
wroclaw2016.pl/biennale/
EM15 presents Doug Fishbone’s Leisure Land Golf
Arsenale Docks, Castello, 40A, 40B, 41C
May 6th - July 26th
Organization: EM15
www.em15venice.co.uk
Eredità e Sperimentazione
Grand Hotel Hungaria & Ausonia, Viale Santa Maria Elisabetta, 28, Lido di Venezia
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Istituto Nazionale di BioArchitettura - Sezione di Padova
www.bioarchitettura.it
Frontiers Reimagined
Palazzo Grimani, Castello, 4858 (Ramo Grimani)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Tagore Foundation International; Polo museale del Veneto
www.frontiersreimagined.org
Glasstress 2015 Gotika
Istituto Veneto di Scienze Lettere ed Arti, Palazzo Cavalli Franchetti, San Marco, 2847 (Campo Santo Stefano); Chiesa di Santa Maria della Visitazione, Centro Culturale Don Orione Artigianelli, Dorsoduro, 919 (Zattere); Fondazione Berengo, Campiello della Pescheria, 15, Murano;
May 9th — November 22nd
Organization: The State Hermitage Museum
www.hermitagemuseum.org
Graham Fagen: Scotland + Venice 2015
Palazzo Fontana, Cannaregio, 3829 (Strada Nova)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Scotland + Venice
www.scotlandandvenice.com
Grisha Bruskin. An Archaeologist’s Collection
Former Chiesa di Santa Caterina, Cannaregio, 4941-4942
May 6th – November 22nd
Organization: Centro Studi sulle Arti della Russia (CSAR), Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia
www.unive.it/csar
Helen Sear, ... The Rest Is Smoke
Santa Maria Ausiliatrice, Castello, 450 (Fondamenta San Gioacchin)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Cymru yn Fenis/Wales in Venice
www.walesinvenice.org.uk
Highway to Hell
Palazzo Michiel, Cannaregio, 4391/A (Strada Nova)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Hubei Museum of Art
www.hbmoa.com
Humanistic Nature and Society (Shan-Shui) – An Insight into the Future
Palazzo Faccanon, San Marco, 5016 (Mercerie)
May 7th – August 4th
Organization: Shanghai Himalayas Museum
www.himalayasmuseum.org
In the Eye of the Thunderstorm: Effervescent Practices from the Arab World & South Asia
Dorsoduro, 417 (Zattere)
May 6th - November 15th
Organization: ArsCulture
www.arsculture.org/www.eyeofthunderstorm.com
Italia Docet | Laboratorium- Artists, Participants, Testimonials and Activated Spectators
Palazzo Barbarigo Minotto, San Marco, 2504 (Fondamenta Duodo o Barbarigo)
May 9th – June 30th; September 11st – October 31st
Organization: Italian Art Motherboard Foundation (i-AM Foundation)
www.i-amfoundation.orgwww.venicebiennale-italiadocet.org
Jaume Plensa: Together
Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore, Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore
May 6th – November 22nd
Organization: Abbazia di San Giorgio Maggiore Benedicti Claustra Onlus
www.praglia.it
Jenny Holzer "War Paintings"
Museo Correr, San Marco, 52 (Piazza San Marco)
May 6th – November 22nd
Organization: The Written Art Foundation; Museo Correr, Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia
www.writtenartfoundation.com
correr.visitmuve.it
Jump into the Unknown
Palazzo Loredan dell’Ambasciatore, Dorsoduro, 1261-1262
May 9th – June 18th
Organization: Nine Dragon Heads
9dh-venice.com
Learn from Masters
Palazzo Bembo, San Marco, 4793 (Riva del Carbon)
May 9th – November 22nd
Organization: Pan Tianshou Foundation
pantianshou.caa.edu.cn/foundation_en
My East is Your West
Palazzo Benzon, San Marco, 3927
May 6th – October 31st
Organization: The Gujral Foundation
www.gujralfoundation.org
Ornamentalism. The Purvitis Prize
Arsenale Nord, Tesa 99
May 9th – November 22nd
Organization: The Secretariat of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2015
www.purvisabalva.lv/en/ornamentalism
Path and Adventure
Arsenale, Castello, 2126/A (Campo della Tana)
May 9th – November 22nd
Organization: The Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau; The Macao Museum of Art; The Cultural Affairs Bureau
www.iacm.gov.mowww.mam.gov.mowww.icm.gov.mo
Patricia Cronin: Shrine for Girls, Venice
Chiesa di San Gallo, San Marco, 1103 (Campo San Gallo)
May 9th – November 22nd
Organization: Brooklyn Rail Curatorial Projects
curatorialprojects.brooklynrail.org
Roberto Sebastian Matta. Sculture
Giardino di Palazzo Soranzo Cappello, Soprintendenza BAP per le Province di Venezia, Belluno, Padova e Treviso, Santa Croce, 770 (Fondamenta Rio Marin)
May 9th – November 22nd
Organization: Fondazione Echaurren Salaris
www.fondazioneechaurrensalaris.itwww.maggioregam.com/56Biennale_Matta
Salon Suisse: S.O.S. Dada - The World Is A Mess
Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi, Dorsoduro, 810 (Campo Sant'Agnese)
May 9th; June 4th - 6th; September 10th - 12th; October 15th - 17th; November 19th – 21st
Organization: Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia
www.prohelvetia.chwww.biennials.ch
Sean Scully: Land Sea
Palazzo Falier, San Marco, 2906
May 9th – November 22nd
Organization: Fondazione Volume!
www.fondazionevolume.com
Sepphoris. Alessandro Valeri
Molino Stucky, interior atrium, Giudecca, 812
May 9th – November 22nd
Organization: Assessorato alla Cultura del Comune di Narni(TR); a Sidereal Space of Art; Satellite Berlin
www.sepphorisproject.org
Tesla Revisited
Palazzo Nani Mocenigo, Dorsoduro, 960
May 9th – October 18th
Organization: VITRARIA Glass + A Museum
www.vitraria.com/
The Bridges of Graffiti
Arterminal c/o Terminal San Basilio, Dorsoduro (Fondamenta Zattere al Ponte Lungo)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Associazione Culturale Inossidabile
www.inossidabileac.com
The Dialogue of Fire. Ceramic and Glass Masters from Barcelona to Venice
Palazzo Tiepolo Passi, San Polo, 2774
May 6th - November 22nd
Organization: Fundaciò Artigas; ArsCulture
www.fundacio-artigas.com/www.arsculture.org/www.dialogueoffire.org
The Question of Beings
Istituto Santa Maria della Pietà, Castello, 3701
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei (MoCA, Taipei)
www.mocataipei.org.tw
The Revenge of the Common Place
Università Ca' Foscari, Ca' Bernardo, Dorsoduro, 3199 (Calle Bernardo)
May 9th – September 30th
Organization: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Free University Brussels-VUB)
www.vub.ac.be/
The Silver Lining. Contemporary Art from Liechtenstein and other Microstates
Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi, Dorsoduro, 810 (Campo Sant'Agnese)
October 24th – November 1st
Organization: Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein
www.kunstmuseum.liwww.silverlining.li
The Sound of Creation. Paintings + Music by Beezy Bailey and Brian Eno
Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello, Palazzo Pisani, San Marco, 2810 (Campo Santo Stefano)
May 7th - November 22nd
Organization: ArsCulture
www.arsculture.org/
The Union of Fire and Water
Palazzo Barbaro, San Marco, 2840
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: YARAT Contemporary Art Organisation
www.yarat.azwww.bakuvenice2015.com
Thirty Light Years - Theatre of Chinese Art
Palazzo Rossini, San Marco, 4013 (Campo Manin)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: GAC Global Art Center Foundation; The Guangdong Museum of Art
www.globalartcenter.orgwww.gdmoa.org
Tsang Kin-Wah: The Infinite Nothing, Hong Kong in Venice
Arsenale, Castello, 2126 (Campo della Tana)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: M+, West Kowloon Cultural District; Hong Kong Arts Development Council
www.westkowloon.hk/en/mpluswww.hkadc.org.hkwww.venicebiennale.hk
Under the Surface, Newfoundland and Labrador at Venice
Galleria Ca' Rezzonico, Dorsoduro, 2793
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Terra Nova Art Foundation
tnaf.ca
Ursula von Rydingsvard
Giardino della Marinaressa, Castello (Riva dei Sette Martiri)
May 6th - November 22nd
Organization:Yorkshire Sculpture Park
www.ysp.co.uk
We Must Risk Delight: Twenty Artists from Los Angeles
Magazzino del Sale n. 3, Dorsoduro, 264 (Zattere)
May 7th - November 22nd
Organization: bardoLA
www.bardoLA.org
Wu Tien-Chang: Never Say Goodbye
Palazzo delle Prigioni, Castello, 4209 (San Marco)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Taipei Fine Arts Museum of Taiwan
www.tfam.museum
Rome St Peter's Basilica: The Tomb of Pope Gregory XIII (1715–1723) by Camillo Rusconi. Born Ugo Boncompagni, he was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for commissioning and being the namesake for the Gregorian calendar, which remains the internationally accepted civil calendar to this day.
Cabinet Photo_portrait of young woman in striped dress, Sacramento, California photo by Gregory, 504 J Street, Sacramento, Cal.
Kerio Valley, Kenya The Kerio Valley is about 10 km wide and 80 km long; it is part of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya. It is a classic example of a graben framed by escarpments that was created by two tectonic plates pulling apart. It is located between the Elgeyo Escarpment that forms the western edge of the Rift Valley and the Tugen Hills that rise in the middle of the Rift Valley.
Kerio Valley, Kenya The Kerio Valley is about 10 km wide and 80 km long; it is part of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya. It is a classic example of a graben framed by escarpments that was created by two tectonic plates pulling apart. It is located between the Elgeyo Escarpment that forms the western edge of the Rift Valley and the Tugen Hills that rise in the middle of the Rift Valley.
St Mary, Kemsing, Kent I am mad.
Clearly.
I have all day to travel back home, but here I am , catching the six o'clock ferry from East Cowes, sitting now on the deck, taking photographs as we cast off.
Because I am mad.
I have a couple of places to visit on the way home, so I catch the early ferry, missing breakfast at the hotel. I could have had breakfast and caught the ferry at nine, but that would have meant battling traffic in and out of Newport due to the Floating Bridge being out of action.
So here I am.
Taking shots.
It is the blue hour. Or is it the pink hour in the morning?
I don't know. But sunrise is half an hour away, the engines tone rises, calm water on the river turn to foam, and we move off.
Once the ferry leaves the river, I go back downstairs and buy a coffee and a Twix, then go to the back lounge to see the island blend into the murk of dawn's shadows.
The ferry is only 10% full, so plenty of room to spread out and pretend that there's no other people about. I could have gone back up to snap Southampton in the golden light as the sun had risen, but instead I just sit and wait for the call to return to your cars.
I program the sat nav, so once we were docked and tied up, I was one of the first off, and was soon heading north to the motorway and away from the Southampton rush hour.
Traffic was heavy, but I made good progress, allowing me to stop at Fleet services for breakfast in Costa, before pressing on to the M25 and the chaos that drive east would be.
Traffic much heavier than it was three weeks back, meaning I was half an hour later, which I didn't mind, as the church I planned to visit would be more likely to be unlocked at half nine rather than nine.
West Kent is picturesque, full of pretty villages full of former merchant's houses, now seamlessly turned into what used to be called the stockbroker belt.
Otford was a village, now a suburb of Sevenoaks, the ancient centre of the village is around the pond, and around the edge of the green is the pub and the church.
A parking space outside the papershop offered half an hour's free parking, so I abandoned the car there and limped over the main road to the church, showing well through the bare trees, just waking up as spring arrives.
A modern church centre sits to the north, and having tried the west and south doors, I try going through the church centre, and the doors swing open into the church, no one else was inside.
There was a grand monument, the west wall covered in hatchings and the east window in the Chancel had several Flemish painted panels of saints arranged into a cross.
I take many, many shots.
I am back at the car within the half hour, and a three mile drive away through the rolling countryside is the next target, Kemsing.
We had been here before, but the porch door was locked, but the parish website promised it would be open from nine. And it was.
John Vigar's description stated that access to the Chancel would not be possible, which confused me, but the large arts and crafts recreation of the rood screen, was locked, and the door through the vestry was also out of bounds.
So I took shots through the screen, not ideal, but better than nothing, and I think they came out well.
It was time to go home. So, back in the car I program my phone, and it leads me back to the M20, and from there I know the way.
Lots of trucks and lorries also heading south, but I cruise past them. Its a fine day to be driving, the sun is breaking through the low cloud and mist, making for a pleasant drive.
I have also judged the fuel well, so don't need to refill before stopping at the car hire office.
They give it the once over, I tell them the things which are not working on te brand new car, they make notes, and I am done.
Emma drives me back to St Maggies, dropping me off on Station Road. I walk along to Chez Jelltex, check the garden for new flowers and growth, then go onside.
The cats sleep on, and I am overcome with weariness. MY knee is aching, I am out of painkillers, but massage it, nd its a little better.
I have brunch and a brew, listen to some podcasts, have a shower, unpack the suitcase.
Phew.
It now stays light until gone six, meaning we could have gone for a walk before dinner. But not at the moment. So I cook hash for dinner, which was ten minutes away from being done by the time Jools got home.
So we eat and drink wine.
One day and the weekend will be here.
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A chocolate-box church in a well-maintained churchyard. The nave is twelfth century in date, remodelled in the fourteenth century when the present roof was constructed. The chancel is also early but was reconstructed in the sixteenth century. A north aisle was added in 1890. The character of the church derives almost entirely from the nineteenth-and twentieth-century furnishings with which it is blessed. The rood screen is of the correct proportion and design and in the main dates from 1894 with minimal amounts of old woodwork. The wonderful figures on top are of 1908 and were designed by Sir Ninian Comper - the angels balance on their wheels like unicyclists! Comper also designed the wall paintings in the chancel, the altar, reredos and canopy. In the north aisle is an interesting collection of furnishings. There is a painted tile picture of Kemsing by the Kent artist Donald Maxwell, one of only a handful to survive. The central window is of two bishops and is typical of Comper's work, but it does not carry his usual signature of a strawberry plant. The west window of the north aisle is by Douglas Strachan, 1935, and is an excellent example of his angular figures. By the font is a bronze Arts and Crafts panel of the Virgin and Child by Henry Wilson, the famous turn-of-the-century designer who lived in a neighbouring village and whose work may also be found in the churchyard.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Kemsing
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KEMSING.
THE next parish eastward from Otford is KEMSING, called in the Testa de Nevil, CAMESING, and in the Textus Rossensis, CIMICINGA. (fn. 1) The name of this place seems to have been given to it from some royal camp or fortress, situated here.
THIS PARISH of Kemsing, from its situation, is not much known or frequented, nor is it a pleasant one. It lies partly in the valley and partly on the chalk hills, at a small distance southward from the foot of which the village is situated, at the intersection of the roads from Otford to Ightham, and from the chalk hills to the high road by Seal Chart. Near the centre of it is a water, called St. Edith's well, who was a famous female saint, said to have been born in this parish, and to have wrought many miracles for such as applied to her for relief. (fn. 2) The parish is about two miles square; the soil of it, in the northern part, is mostly chalk, in the southern very fertile, it has about one hundred acres of wood; in the eastern part of it is the seat of Crowdleham, situated near the boundary of the parish of Ightham.
There was a market antiently kept here on a Monday, by grant from king Henry III. which has been long since discontinued, and a fair, which is still kept on Easter Monday. (fn. 3) There was an old knightly family, who took their surname from this place, being called Kempsing, whose coat of arms was, Argent, a sess and chevron, interlaced sable, which was quartered by the Harts of Lullingstone, in right of Peche, who married the heir general of it. (fn. 4)
IN THE SCUTAGE, levied as well on the prelates as the rest of the barons, in the 32d of king Henry II. being the seventh of that reign, towards the expences of the army in Wales. The honour of Kemesing, as it is there called, then being in the king's hands, answered for twenty-nine shillings by the hands of the sheriff of the county. (fn. 5) Soon after which it came into the possession of the earl of Albermarle, who held it of Walter Fitzhelt, as he again did of the king in capite.
In the reign of king John, Baldwin de Betun, who, by favour of king Richard I. had enjoyed the earldom of Albermarle, in Hawis his wife's right, who was daughter land sole heir of William le Gross, earl of Albermarle, was owner of this place, and in the 5th year of that reign granted the lordships of Kemesing, Braborne, and Sutton, in this county, to William Mareschal, earl of Pembroke, with Alice, his sole daughter and heir, in frank marriage. (fn. 6)
In the reign of king John he attached himself closely to the rebellious barons, when his lands were seised on, as escheats to the crown; and this manor, then valued at thirty-six pounds per annum, as appears by the Testa de Nevil, was granted to Fulke de Brent; on the confiscation of whose estates, and the earl's return to his obedience, he again came into possession of it, which happened on the king's death, his father having persuaded him to return to his loyalty once more, and he had many favours conferred on him by king Henry III. in the 7th year of whose reign he had, for his good services against the Welsh, scutage of all his tenants in this and other counties. In the 10th year of that reign, his first wife being dead, he married Alianore, the king's sister, by which he greatly incurred his displeasure; but a reconciliation quickly after taking place, he was again taken into favour, and in the 14th year of that reign had a confirmation of the manors of Kemsing, Braborne, and Sutton, in this county, upon condition, that in case Alianore, his wife, survived him, she should enjoy them during life. (fn. 7) He died possessed of Kemsing in the 15th year of that reign without issue, and lies buried in the Temple church, having his effigies cross legged on his tomb; on which the sheriff of this county had the king's precept to make livery to Alianore, his widow, of those manors. She, after seven years widowhood, remarried Simon de Montford, earl of Leicester, and steward of England, in St. Stephen's chapel, Westminster, the king giving her away with his own hand.
In the 45th year of that reign, the earl of Leicester, heading the discontented barons against the king, continued with them till the battle of Evesham, in the 49th year of it, in which the earl was killed; after whose death, the countess Alianore and her children were forced to forsake England, and she died some time afterwards in the nunnery of Montarges, in France.
In the mean time the four brothers of William earl of Pembroke, successively earls of Pembroke, being dead without issue, their inheritance became divided between the heirs of their five sisters and coheirs; and upon the partition of their interest in the manor of Kemsing, it seems to have become the sole property of Roger, eldest son of Maud the eldest sister, by her husband, Hugh Bigod, earl of Norfolk, (fn. 8) though the time of his coming into the possession of it. I do not find, as Alianore, second wife of William earl of Pembroke, was then living, who was entitled to it for her life.
Roger earl of Norfolk, and marshal of England, who bore for his arms, Per pale or and vert, a lion rampant gules, died of a bruise, which he received at a tour nament, about the 54th of Henry III.'s reign, leaving no issue by Isabel his wife, daughter of William king of Scots; upon which he was succeeded, as earl of Norfolk and marshal of the king's palace, as well as in the possession of this manor, by Roger his nephew, son of Hugh his brother, chief justice of England, (fn. 9) who, in the 7th of king Edward I. claimed, before the justices itinerant, large privileges for this manor; (fn. 10) and afterwards, in the 11th year of that reign, sold it, together with the advowson of this church, to Otho de Grandison, descended of a family, who were of the dukedom of Burgundy, in France, their residence there being called Grandison castle, a man of great account with that prince, who employed him much, and conferred many favours on him.
In the 18th year of that reign, he obtained free warren for all his demesne lands in Kemsing, (fn. 11) and having had summons to parliament among the barons of this realm, he departed this life without issue, leaving William de Grandison, his brother, his next heir; who died possessed of this manor, leaving by his wife, Sibilla, youngest daughter, and one of the coheirs of John de Tregoze, three sons; Peter de Grandison, his eldest son and heir, who, as well as his father, had summons to parliament; John bishop of Exeter; and Otho; and four daughters. (fn. 12)
On his death this manor became the property of Otho, the youngest son, who paid aid for it, in the 20th of king Edward III. as half a knight's fee, which William de Grandison before held in Kemsing of the earl of Leicester. He died possessed of this manor in the 33d year of that reign, (fn. 13) leaving by Beatrix his wife, daughter and coheir of Nicholas Malmains, one son and heir, Thomas, and a daughter, Elizabeth.
Thomas de Grandison, being of full age, had possession granted of this manor, among others; he was afterwards knighted, and died possessed of it in the 50th year of king Edward III. without issue, leaving Margaret his wife surviving, who likewise possessed it at her decease, in the 18th year of king Richard II. After which it came to Sir William de Bryene, or Bryan, who died possessed of it in the 19th year of the same reign, and lies buried in Seale church.
After his death, Sir William Fynes (whose name was originally spelt Fiennes, but about this time came to be written both Fynes and Fenys) became possessed of it, bearing for his arms, Azure, three lions rampant or. He was son of William Fiennes and Joane his wife, third sister and coheir of William de Say; and by Elizabeth his wife, daughter and heir of William Batisford, left issue two sons, Roger and James; from the former of which were descended the several lords Dacre of the south; and from the latter, the viscounts Say and Seale, both which titles are now extinct, (fn. 14) and the present lord Say and Sele.
James, the second son, above mentioned, possessed this manor, and in the 14th of king Henry, VI. was sheriff of this county, and soon afterwards made esquire of the body to that king. In the 24th year of whose reign, being then a knight, he was, by reason that Joane his grandmother was third sister and coheir of William de Say, by a special writ, on March 3d, next year, summoned to Parliament by the title of lord Say and Sele; (fn. 15) and two days afterwards, in consideration of his eminent services, he was, in open parliament, advanced to the dignity of a baron of this realm, by the above title, to him and his heirs male, and in the 27th year of that reign, he had a full confirmation and release of that title from John, lord Clinton, and of the arms of Say, which, on account of his descent from Idonea, the eldest sister of William de Say, might belong to him. In consideration of which he then granted to the lord Clinton, all advowsons of churches, knights fees, &c. which belonged to the latter, by reason of the lordship of Say. (fn. 16)
After which he obtained a grant of the office of constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, to him and his heirs male; was made lord chamberlain, and one of the king's council, and next year lord treasurer of England.
This rise to so high a pitch of honour, increased the hatred of the commons towards him, and served but to make his fall the more sudden and unhappy, for next year they accused him and others in the parliament held at St. Edmunds Bury, of treason, for having ing assented to the release of Anjou, and the delivery of Maine to the French; upon which the king, to appease them, sequestered him from his office of treasurer, and shortly after, on the insurrection of the Kentish men, under Jack Cade, observing their clamour against him, to mitigate it, he committed him prisoner to the tower; shortly after which, this riotous mob entering London, and finding their numbers increase, fetched him thence to Guildhall, and there arraigned him before the lord-mayor, and other the king's justices, notwithstanding his request to be tried by his peers; after which hurrying him to the standard in Cheapside, they cut off his head there, and carried it about on a pole, causing his naked body to be drawn at a horse's tail into Southwark, and there hanged and quartered, though his body was afterwards buried in the church of the Grey Friars, London. (fn. 17)
He left issue, by Emeline Cromer his wife, one son and heir, Sir William Fienes, who was that year, by special writ, summoned to parliament, being seized of an estate tail of the office of constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, by virtue of the patent above-mentioned, to James, his father, his interest in which he soon afterwards sold to Humphry, duke of Buckingham, and his heirs male.
The unhappy contention subsisting at that time between the houses of York and Lancaster for the throne, in which he risqued not only his person, but his whole fortune, brought him into great distresses, and necessitated him to mortgage, and fell the greatest part of his lands. (fn. 18) He married Margaret the daughter and heir of William Wickham, great-grandson of Agnes, sister to William of Wickham, founder of New College, Oxford. The lands of the lord Say being thus alienated the barony lay dormant, and the heirs male of the family were only called Fienes. Henry, his son and heir, though he used the title of lord Say, had never summons to parliament, and it remained unclaimed till the year 1733, when it was claimed by John Twisleton, esq. of Broughton, in Oxfordshire, descended by the female line from the above Sir William Fienes, lord Say and Sele, which claim, though it then failed, was renewed by his son Thomas, who was summoned to parliament as lord Say and Sele, in 1781, and was father to the present Gregory, lord Say and Sele. In the second year of king Edward IV. Sir William Fienes, lord Say and Sele, mentioned above, sold this manor of Kemsing to Sir Geoffry Bulleyn, (fn. 19) a wealthy mercer of London, who had been lord mayor in the 37th year of king Henry VI. whose grandson Thomas, was sheriff of this county in the 3d and 9th years of Henry VIII. and became a man of great note in that reign; for the king in his 3d year made him one of the knights of his body, and afterwards embassador several times to the emperor, and the kings of France and Spain, and in the 17th year of his reign, on account of the great affection which he bore to the lady Anne Bulleyn, his daughter, advanced him to the title of viscount Rochford; and in his 21st year, created him, being then knight of the garter, earl of Wiltshire and Ormond, and made him lord privy seal. (fn. 20) He died in the 30th year of king Henry VIII. possessed of this manor, have ing had by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk, one son, George, executed in his life-time, and two daughters; Anne, wife to king Henry VIII. and Mary, wife of William Carey, esq. of the king's body, and ancestor of the lords Hunsdon, and of the earls of Dover and Monmouth.
George Bulleyn, the son above-mentioned, bearing the title of viscount Rochford in his father's life-time, was, in the 26th year of that reign, made constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, and was much favored by that king, till the time of his change of affection from queen Anne Bulleyn; when the king, to make the path more easy towards the enjoyment of his new passion, in a sudden and unexpected gust of anger, in his 28th year, committed him to the tower, a few days after which, he was arraigned and beheaded, having had no issue, and was buried in St. Peter's chapel in the tower. (fn. 21)
On the death of the earl of Wiltshire without male issue, the king seized on this manor, in right of his late wife, the unfortunate Anne Bulleyn, the earl's elder daughter; and it remained in his hands till the 32d year of his reign, when by his indenture that year, reciting, that as the most noble lady, Anne of Cleves, daugh ter of John, late duke of Cleve, &c. came into his realm of England, on a certain treaty of marriage between himself and the said lady Anne; which marriage, although celebrated in the face of the church, yet was never consummated, for the conditions of it were never performed in due time, and there being other great and important causes, on account of which the convocation of the realm, with assent of the parties, and of the parliament, had declared the marriage to be invalid, there being no prospect of any children from it, notwithstanding which, the said lady was contented to conform to the laws of the realm, and to free herself and her conscience of the said marriage, and to remain at liberty within the realm; therefore the king, considering her high birth and nobility, of his especial grace and favour, granted her, for the maintenance of her noble estate, among other premises, his manors of Hever, Seale, and Kemsing, and his park of Hever, with all their rights, members, and appurtenances, late belonging to Thomas, earl of Wiltshire, deceased, and then in the king's hands; and all messuages, lands and hereditaments whatsoever, in Hever, Seale, and Kemsing, lately purchased by the king of Sir James Bulleyn, and William Bulleyn, clerk, to hold to her during life, so long as she should stay within the realm of England, and not depart out of it, without the licence of the king and his successors, and the king granted the premises free and discharged of all outgoings, rents, pensions, &c. except among others of forty shillings, issuing yearly out of the lands of John Tybolde, called Seale Park. (fn. 22)
¶The lady Ann of Cleves died possessed of these manors and estates in the 4th and 5th year of king Philip and queen Mary, when they reverted again to the crown; where the manors of Seale and Kemsing, and the other premises in those parishes, lay till queen Elizabeth, in her first year, granted them to her kinsman, Sir Henry Carey, whom she had advanced that year to the title of lord Hunsdon, baron of Hunsdon, in Hertfordshire, to hold in capite by knights service. (fn. 23) He was descended of an antient family, seated at Cockington, in Devonshire; one of whom was Sir Robert Carey, who in the beginning of king Henry V's reign, acquired great renown by his encountering and overcoming an Arragonian knight, who had performed many notable feats of arms in different countries, and then came to make trial of his prowess here in England, in a long and doubtful combat in Smithfield; for which he was by the king knighted, and restored to part of his father's inheritance, which had been forfeited. From which time he bore, as by the law of arms he might, the coat armour of the vanquished knight, viz. Argent, on a bend sable, three roses of the field barbed and seeded proper; the present bearing of this family: their antient bearing before this being, Gules, a chevron argent between three swans proper; one of which they still retain for their crest. His son was William Carey, who being in the battle of Tewksbury, in the 10th year of king Edward IV. on the part of the Lancastrians, upon the loss of that day, was taken prisoner, and notwithstanding he was promised a pardon, lost his head.
Kemsing is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Rochester, and deanry of Malling.
The church stands on the north side of the village, and is dedicated to St. Edith, whose image, set up in this church-yard, was greatly frequented for the singular benefits she daily dispensed in preserving corn and grain from blasting, mill-dew, and other harm incident to it. (fn. 32) It is a small church, consisting of only one isle and a chancel, having a pointed steeple at the west end, in which are two bells. There are but few monuments or inscriptions in it, in the chancel there is a grave-stone, with the figure of a man, and an inscription in brass in black letter, for Thomas de Hop, and at the east end a mural monument for Michael Jermin, D. D. obt. August 14, 1659, æt. 70. (fn. 33)
In the year 1397, anno 21 king Richard II. the king granted licence to Guy Mone, to give the advowson of the church of Kemsing to the prior and convent of Bermondsey for ever. (fn. 34) In which year they obtained the pope's bull, (fn. 35) to appropriate it with the chapel of Seale annexed to it, to the use and support of their convent; reserving, nevertheless, out of the fruits, rents, and profits of the church and chapel, for a perpetual vicar to be instituted in it by the ordinary, a fit portion, by which he might be maintained, the episcopal dues be paid, and other burthens incumbent on him might be conveniently borne. (fn. 36)
In consequence of which, John (de Bottlesham) bishop of Rochester, by his instrument, dated Oct. 12, anno 1402, (fn. 37) with the consent of the abbot and convent of Bermondesey, endowed the vicarage of this church as follows:
First, he decreed, that there should be a perpetual vicarage, to be held and possessed as a perpetual ecclesiastical benefice in the church of Kemsing, which he endowed out of the fruits, rents, and profits of the said church and the chapel of Seale; the vicar of which, who should be intitled to it, by the abbot and convent, proprietaries of this church, should be from time to time presented to the bishop and his successors, and inducted by the archdeacon; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent, and their successors, proprietaries of it, in right of the same, should take, have, and freely enjoy, all and every kind of great tythes, viz. of corn, of whatsoever sort it be, and of hay, growing within the bounds and limits, or titheable places of the church and chapel, the tithe of the grange or field of Budirevere within this parish only excepted; and he ordained, that the repair of the chancel of the church, in the walls, glass windows, and roof, and also the paying of all papal and royal tenths and procurations, and the procurations of legates of the apostolic see, of archbishops, bishops, and archdeacons, (the bishop and his church of Rochester being always saved harmless, on account of this appropriation) should belong to the abbot and convent, and their successors, to be paid and performed at their costs and expences; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent, and their successors, should cause forty pence in money, or meat and drink of as much value, to be yearly distributed to, and bestowed on, the poor, and more indigent parishioners of the church of Kemsing, towards their relief and support, out of the profits of the church; and he ordained, that the tithes of the food of all animals, and of pidgeons, and other titheable matters accruing within the rectory, and the straw of the church and chapel, so long as the rectory should remain in the hands of the abbot and convent, and be in no wife let to ferm, should belong to them, as proprietaries of the parish church; but if the same should be let to ferm, then he ordained, that the tithes of the food of animals, &c. as above-mentioned, should belong to the vicar of the vicarage of the same, for the time being, for ever, with this exception however, that if the abbot and convent should let to ferm any of their stock, with the rectory, no tithe should be taken of that stock; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent should cause to be built at their costs and expences, for that time only, a competent dwelling on a part of the glebe and soil of the rectory allotted for that purpose, in which he ordained, that the vicar for the time being should reside; and he ordained, that the portion of the vicar should be as follows: that he should take and have all oblations and obventions of the altar, as well in the parish church of Kemsing, as in the chapel of Seale, and the small tythes, of what kind or nature soever they be, accruing within the parish of the said church and chapel, and the titheable places of the same, and also all great and small tithes whatsoever, in and of the grange or field called Budyrevere, within the bounds and limits of the parish of the church of Kemsing; and he ordained, that the vicar for the time being should have the cure of all and singular the parishioners of the said church and chapel, and that he should find, at his own costs and expences, a proper chaplain to celebrate divine offices in the said chapel, and duly administer the sacraments and ecclesiastical sacramentals in the same, and also the bread, wine, and lights, necessary and accustomed at the celebrating divine offices in the said church and chapel; and, lastly, he pronounced and declared, that the above was a sufficient and competent portion for the vicar, and such as from it he would be able to support himself, to keep hospitality, and conveniently support the burthens incumbent on him. Which endowment was confirmed by the abbot and convent the day after, under their common seal. (fn. 38)
The above appropriation and endowment was confirmed by John Langdon, bishop of Rochester, in 1422, who further ordained, with the consent of the abbot and convent, that no future vicar might have any cause to complain, that he should receive yearly, from the abbot and convent, fourteen shillings of English money, beyond the portion before assigned to him as before-mentioned; and it was then agreed between the bishop and the abbot and convent, that the bishop should receive in future, out of the fruits and profits of the said church and chapel, 6s. 8d. yearly of English money, as an indemnity to the church of Rochester for any injury it might have received, by reason of the appropriation of this church and chapel.
All which was confirmed by the abbot and convent, under their common seal, the day and year abovementioned. (fn. 39)
On the dissolution of the monastery of St. Saviour's, Bermondesey, which happened in the 29th year of king Henry VIII. this church, with the chapel of Seale annexed was surrendered, among the rest of the possessions of that house, into the king's hands, and became part of the possessions of the crown, after which queen Elizabeth granted this rectory to Sir Peter Manwood; in king Charles I's reign, it was in the possession of James Bunce, esq. whose descendant, James Bunce, esq. of Crowdleham, in this parish, is the present owner of it.
But the advowson of the vicarage seems to have been granted, with the manor of Kemsing, to Henry Carey, lord Hunsdon, since which it has continued unalienated, for many generations, the property of the earls and dukes of Dorset, and is now in the possession of his grace John Frederick duke of Dorset.
In the 15th year of king Edward I. this church was valued at fifteen marcs. (fn. 40)
¶By virtue of the commission of enquiry into the value of church livings, in 1650, issuing out of chancery, it was returned, that here was a parsonage and vicarage; the parsonage tithes being about forty pounds per annum, and the glebe land thereunto belonging, worth ten pounds, master Bunce being patron, but it was then sequestered, and that the vicarage, tythes, and house, were worth one hundred pounds per annum; that there was issuing out of the parsonage to the vicar, by composition from the abbot, two pounds per annum, and by the will of master Bunce six pounds per annum, in all eighteen pounds, master Barton then incumbent. (fn. 41)
This vicarage, with Seale annexed, is valued in the king's books at 19l. 13s. 4d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 9s. 4d.
www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol3/pp32-50
St Mary, Kemsing, Kent I am mad.
Clearly.
I have all day to travel back home, but here I am , catching the six o'clock ferry from East Cowes, sitting now on the deck, taking photographs as we cast off.
Because I am mad.
I have a couple of places to visit on the way home, so I catch the early ferry, missing breakfast at the hotel. I could have had breakfast and caught the ferry at nine, but that would have meant battling traffic in and out of Newport due to the Floating Bridge being out of action.
So here I am.
Taking shots.
It is the blue hour. Or is it the pink hour in the morning?
I don't know. But sunrise is half an hour away, the engines tone rises, calm water on the river turn to foam, and we move off.
Once the ferry leaves the river, I go back downstairs and buy a coffee and a Twix, then go to the back lounge to see the island blend into the murk of dawn's shadows.
The ferry is only 10% full, so plenty of room to spread out and pretend that there's no other people about. I could have gone back up to snap Southampton in the golden light as the sun had risen, but instead I just sit and wait for the call to return to your cars.
I program the sat nav, so once we were docked and tied up, I was one of the first off, and was soon heading north to the motorway and away from the Southampton rush hour.
Traffic was heavy, but I made good progress, allowing me to stop at Fleet services for breakfast in Costa, before pressing on to the M25 and the chaos that drive east would be.
Traffic much heavier than it was three weeks back, meaning I was half an hour later, which I didn't mind, as the church I planned to visit would be more likely to be unlocked at half nine rather than nine.
West Kent is picturesque, full of pretty villages full of former merchant's houses, now seamlessly turned into what used to be called the stockbroker belt.
Otford was a village, now a suburb of Sevenoaks, the ancient centre of the village is around the pond, and around the edge of the green is the pub and the church.
A parking space outside the papershop offered half an hour's free parking, so I abandoned the car there and limped over the main road to the church, showing well through the bare trees, just waking up as spring arrives.
A modern church centre sits to the north, and having tried the west and south doors, I try going through the church centre, and the doors swing open into the church, no one else was inside.
There was a grand monument, the west wall covered in hatchings and the east window in the Chancel had several Flemish painted panels of saints arranged into a cross.
I take many, many shots.
I am back at the car within the half hour, and a three mile drive away through the rolling countryside is the next target, Kemsing.
We had been here before, but the porch door was locked, but the parish website promised it would be open from nine. And it was.
John Vigar's description stated that access to the Chancel would not be possible, which confused me, but the large arts and crafts recreation of the rood screen, was locked, and the door through the vestry was also out of bounds.
So I took shots through the screen, not ideal, but better than nothing, and I think they came out well.
It was time to go home. So, back in the car I program my phone, and it leads me back to the M20, and from there I know the way.
Lots of trucks and lorries also heading south, but I cruise past them. Its a fine day to be driving, the sun is breaking through the low cloud and mist, making for a pleasant drive.
I have also judged the fuel well, so don't need to refill before stopping at the car hire office.
They give it the once over, I tell them the things which are not working on te brand new car, they make notes, and I am done.
Emma drives me back to St Maggies, dropping me off on Station Road. I walk along to Chez Jelltex, check the garden for new flowers and growth, then go onside.
The cats sleep on, and I am overcome with weariness. MY knee is aching, I am out of painkillers, but massage it, nd its a little better.
I have brunch and a brew, listen to some podcasts, have a shower, unpack the suitcase.
Phew.
It now stays light until gone six, meaning we could have gone for a walk before dinner. But not at the moment. So I cook hash for dinner, which was ten minutes away from being done by the time Jools got home.
So we eat and drink wine.
One day and the weekend will be here.
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A chocolate-box church in a well-maintained churchyard. The nave is twelfth century in date, remodelled in the fourteenth century when the present roof was constructed. The chancel is also early but was reconstructed in the sixteenth century. A north aisle was added in 1890. The character of the church derives almost entirely from the nineteenth-and twentieth-century furnishings with which it is blessed. The rood screen is of the correct proportion and design and in the main dates from 1894 with minimal amounts of old woodwork. The wonderful figures on top are of 1908 and were designed by Sir Ninian Comper - the angels balance on their wheels like unicyclists! Comper also designed the wall paintings in the chancel, the altar, reredos and canopy. In the north aisle is an interesting collection of furnishings. There is a painted tile picture of Kemsing by the Kent artist Donald Maxwell, one of only a handful to survive. The central window is of two bishops and is typical of Comper's work, but it does not carry his usual signature of a strawberry plant. The west window of the north aisle is by Douglas Strachan, 1935, and is an excellent example of his angular figures. By the font is a bronze Arts and Crafts panel of the Virgin and Child by Henry Wilson, the famous turn-of-the-century designer who lived in a neighbouring village and whose work may also be found in the churchyard.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Kemsing
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KEMSING.
THE next parish eastward from Otford is KEMSING, called in the Testa de Nevil, CAMESING, and in the Textus Rossensis, CIMICINGA. (fn. 1) The name of this place seems to have been given to it from some royal camp or fortress, situated here.
THIS PARISH of Kemsing, from its situation, is not much known or frequented, nor is it a pleasant one. It lies partly in the valley and partly on the chalk hills, at a small distance southward from the foot of which the village is situated, at the intersection of the roads from Otford to Ightham, and from the chalk hills to the high road by Seal Chart. Near the centre of it is a water, called St. Edith's well, who was a famous female saint, said to have been born in this parish, and to have wrought many miracles for such as applied to her for relief. (fn. 2) The parish is about two miles square; the soil of it, in the northern part, is mostly chalk, in the southern very fertile, it has about one hundred acres of wood; in the eastern part of it is the seat of Crowdleham, situated near the boundary of the parish of Ightham.
There was a market antiently kept here on a Monday, by grant from king Henry III. which has been long since discontinued, and a fair, which is still kept on Easter Monday. (fn. 3) There was an old knightly family, who took their surname from this place, being called Kempsing, whose coat of arms was, Argent, a sess and chevron, interlaced sable, which was quartered by the Harts of Lullingstone, in right of Peche, who married the heir general of it. (fn. 4)
IN THE SCUTAGE, levied as well on the prelates as the rest of the barons, in the 32d of king Henry II. being the seventh of that reign, towards the expences of the army in Wales. The honour of Kemesing, as it is there called, then being in the king's hands, answered for twenty-nine shillings by the hands of the sheriff of the county. (fn. 5) Soon after which it came into the possession of the earl of Albermarle, who held it of Walter Fitzhelt, as he again did of the king in capite.
In the reign of king John, Baldwin de Betun, who, by favour of king Richard I. had enjoyed the earldom of Albermarle, in Hawis his wife's right, who was daughter land sole heir of William le Gross, earl of Albermarle, was owner of this place, and in the 5th year of that reign granted the lordships of Kemesing, Braborne, and Sutton, in this county, to William Mareschal, earl of Pembroke, with Alice, his sole daughter and heir, in frank marriage. (fn. 6)
In the reign of king John he attached himself closely to the rebellious barons, when his lands were seised on, as escheats to the crown; and this manor, then valued at thirty-six pounds per annum, as appears by the Testa de Nevil, was granted to Fulke de Brent; on the confiscation of whose estates, and the earl's return to his obedience, he again came into possession of it, which happened on the king's death, his father having persuaded him to return to his loyalty once more, and he had many favours conferred on him by king Henry III. in the 7th year of whose reign he had, for his good services against the Welsh, scutage of all his tenants in this and other counties. In the 10th year of that reign, his first wife being dead, he married Alianore, the king's sister, by which he greatly incurred his displeasure; but a reconciliation quickly after taking place, he was again taken into favour, and in the 14th year of that reign had a confirmation of the manors of Kemsing, Braborne, and Sutton, in this county, upon condition, that in case Alianore, his wife, survived him, she should enjoy them during life. (fn. 7) He died possessed of Kemsing in the 15th year of that reign without issue, and lies buried in the Temple church, having his effigies cross legged on his tomb; on which the sheriff of this county had the king's precept to make livery to Alianore, his widow, of those manors. She, after seven years widowhood, remarried Simon de Montford, earl of Leicester, and steward of England, in St. Stephen's chapel, Westminster, the king giving her away with his own hand.
In the 45th year of that reign, the earl of Leicester, heading the discontented barons against the king, continued with them till the battle of Evesham, in the 49th year of it, in which the earl was killed; after whose death, the countess Alianore and her children were forced to forsake England, and she died some time afterwards in the nunnery of Montarges, in France.
In the mean time the four brothers of William earl of Pembroke, successively earls of Pembroke, being dead without issue, their inheritance became divided between the heirs of their five sisters and coheirs; and upon the partition of their interest in the manor of Kemsing, it seems to have become the sole property of Roger, eldest son of Maud the eldest sister, by her husband, Hugh Bigod, earl of Norfolk, (fn. 8) though the time of his coming into the possession of it. I do not find, as Alianore, second wife of William earl of Pembroke, was then living, who was entitled to it for her life.
Roger earl of Norfolk, and marshal of England, who bore for his arms, Per pale or and vert, a lion rampant gules, died of a bruise, which he received at a tour nament, about the 54th of Henry III.'s reign, leaving no issue by Isabel his wife, daughter of William king of Scots; upon which he was succeeded, as earl of Norfolk and marshal of the king's palace, as well as in the possession of this manor, by Roger his nephew, son of Hugh his brother, chief justice of England, (fn. 9) who, in the 7th of king Edward I. claimed, before the justices itinerant, large privileges for this manor; (fn. 10) and afterwards, in the 11th year of that reign, sold it, together with the advowson of this church, to Otho de Grandison, descended of a family, who were of the dukedom of Burgundy, in France, their residence there being called Grandison castle, a man of great account with that prince, who employed him much, and conferred many favours on him.
In the 18th year of that reign, he obtained free warren for all his demesne lands in Kemsing, (fn. 11) and having had summons to parliament among the barons of this realm, he departed this life without issue, leaving William de Grandison, his brother, his next heir; who died possessed of this manor, leaving by his wife, Sibilla, youngest daughter, and one of the coheirs of John de Tregoze, three sons; Peter de Grandison, his eldest son and heir, who, as well as his father, had summons to parliament; John bishop of Exeter; and Otho; and four daughters. (fn. 12)
On his death this manor became the property of Otho, the youngest son, who paid aid for it, in the 20th of king Edward III. as half a knight's fee, which William de Grandison before held in Kemsing of the earl of Leicester. He died possessed of this manor in the 33d year of that reign, (fn. 13) leaving by Beatrix his wife, daughter and coheir of Nicholas Malmains, one son and heir, Thomas, and a daughter, Elizabeth.
Thomas de Grandison, being of full age, had possession granted of this manor, among others; he was afterwards knighted, and died possessed of it in the 50th year of king Edward III. without issue, leaving Margaret his wife surviving, who likewise possessed it at her decease, in the 18th year of king Richard II. After which it came to Sir William de Bryene, or Bryan, who died possessed of it in the 19th year of the same reign, and lies buried in Seale church.
After his death, Sir William Fynes (whose name was originally spelt Fiennes, but about this time came to be written both Fynes and Fenys) became possessed of it, bearing for his arms, Azure, three lions rampant or. He was son of William Fiennes and Joane his wife, third sister and coheir of William de Say; and by Elizabeth his wife, daughter and heir of William Batisford, left issue two sons, Roger and James; from the former of which were descended the several lords Dacre of the south; and from the latter, the viscounts Say and Seale, both which titles are now extinct, (fn. 14) and the present lord Say and Sele.
James, the second son, above mentioned, possessed this manor, and in the 14th of king Henry, VI. was sheriff of this county, and soon afterwards made esquire of the body to that king. In the 24th year of whose reign, being then a knight, he was, by reason that Joane his grandmother was third sister and coheir of William de Say, by a special writ, on March 3d, next year, summoned to Parliament by the title of lord Say and Sele; (fn. 15) and two days afterwards, in consideration of his eminent services, he was, in open parliament, advanced to the dignity of a baron of this realm, by the above title, to him and his heirs male, and in the 27th year of that reign, he had a full confirmation and release of that title from John, lord Clinton, and of the arms of Say, which, on account of his descent from Idonea, the eldest sister of William de Say, might belong to him. In consideration of which he then granted to the lord Clinton, all advowsons of churches, knights fees, &c. which belonged to the latter, by reason of the lordship of Say. (fn. 16)
After which he obtained a grant of the office of constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, to him and his heirs male; was made lord chamberlain, and one of the king's council, and next year lord treasurer of England.
This rise to so high a pitch of honour, increased the hatred of the commons towards him, and served but to make his fall the more sudden and unhappy, for next year they accused him and others in the parliament held at St. Edmunds Bury, of treason, for having ing assented to the release of Anjou, and the delivery of Maine to the French; upon which the king, to appease them, sequestered him from his office of treasurer, and shortly after, on the insurrection of the Kentish men, under Jack Cade, observing their clamour against him, to mitigate it, he committed him prisoner to the tower; shortly after which, this riotous mob entering London, and finding their numbers increase, fetched him thence to Guildhall, and there arraigned him before the lord-mayor, and other the king's justices, notwithstanding his request to be tried by his peers; after which hurrying him to the standard in Cheapside, they cut off his head there, and carried it about on a pole, causing his naked body to be drawn at a horse's tail into Southwark, and there hanged and quartered, though his body was afterwards buried in the church of the Grey Friars, London. (fn. 17)
He left issue, by Emeline Cromer his wife, one son and heir, Sir William Fienes, who was that year, by special writ, summoned to parliament, being seized of an estate tail of the office of constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, by virtue of the patent above-mentioned, to James, his father, his interest in which he soon afterwards sold to Humphry, duke of Buckingham, and his heirs male.
The unhappy contention subsisting at that time between the houses of York and Lancaster for the throne, in which he risqued not only his person, but his whole fortune, brought him into great distresses, and necessitated him to mortgage, and fell the greatest part of his lands. (fn. 18) He married Margaret the daughter and heir of William Wickham, great-grandson of Agnes, sister to William of Wickham, founder of New College, Oxford. The lands of the lord Say being thus alienated the barony lay dormant, and the heirs male of the family were only called Fienes. Henry, his son and heir, though he used the title of lord Say, had never summons to parliament, and it remained unclaimed till the year 1733, when it was claimed by John Twisleton, esq. of Broughton, in Oxfordshire, descended by the female line from the above Sir William Fienes, lord Say and Sele, which claim, though it then failed, was renewed by his son Thomas, who was summoned to parliament as lord Say and Sele, in 1781, and was father to the present Gregory, lord Say and Sele. In the second year of king Edward IV. Sir William Fienes, lord Say and Sele, mentioned above, sold this manor of Kemsing to Sir Geoffry Bulleyn, (fn. 19) a wealthy mercer of London, who had been lord mayor in the 37th year of king Henry VI. whose grandson Thomas, was sheriff of this county in the 3d and 9th years of Henry VIII. and became a man of great note in that reign; for the king in his 3d year made him one of the knights of his body, and afterwards embassador several times to the emperor, and the kings of France and Spain, and in the 17th year of his reign, on account of the great affection which he bore to the lady Anne Bulleyn, his daughter, advanced him to the title of viscount Rochford; and in his 21st year, created him, being then knight of the garter, earl of Wiltshire and Ormond, and made him lord privy seal. (fn. 20) He died in the 30th year of king Henry VIII. possessed of this manor, have ing had by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk, one son, George, executed in his life-time, and two daughters; Anne, wife to king Henry VIII. and Mary, wife of William Carey, esq. of the king's body, and ancestor of the lords Hunsdon, and of the earls of Dover and Monmouth.
George Bulleyn, the son above-mentioned, bearing the title of viscount Rochford in his father's life-time, was, in the 26th year of that reign, made constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, and was much favored by that king, till the time of his change of affection from queen Anne Bulleyn; when the king, to make the path more easy towards the enjoyment of his new passion, in a sudden and unexpected gust of anger, in his 28th year, committed him to the tower, a few days after which, he was arraigned and beheaded, having had no issue, and was buried in St. Peter's chapel in the tower. (fn. 21)
On the death of the earl of Wiltshire without male issue, the king seized on this manor, in right of his late wife, the unfortunate Anne Bulleyn, the earl's elder daughter; and it remained in his hands till the 32d year of his reign, when by his indenture that year, reciting, that as the most noble lady, Anne of Cleves, daugh ter of John, late duke of Cleve, &c. came into his realm of England, on a certain treaty of marriage between himself and the said lady Anne; which marriage, although celebrated in the face of the church, yet was never consummated, for the conditions of it were never performed in due time, and there being other great and important causes, on account of which the convocation of the realm, with assent of the parties, and of the parliament, had declared the marriage to be invalid, there being no prospect of any children from it, notwithstanding which, the said lady was contented to conform to the laws of the realm, and to free herself and her conscience of the said marriage, and to remain at liberty within the realm; therefore the king, considering her high birth and nobility, of his especial grace and favour, granted her, for the maintenance of her noble estate, among other premises, his manors of Hever, Seale, and Kemsing, and his park of Hever, with all their rights, members, and appurtenances, late belonging to Thomas, earl of Wiltshire, deceased, and then in the king's hands; and all messuages, lands and hereditaments whatsoever, in Hever, Seale, and Kemsing, lately purchased by the king of Sir James Bulleyn, and William Bulleyn, clerk, to hold to her during life, so long as she should stay within the realm of England, and not depart out of it, without the licence of the king and his successors, and the king granted the premises free and discharged of all outgoings, rents, pensions, &c. except among others of forty shillings, issuing yearly out of the lands of John Tybolde, called Seale Park. (fn. 22)
¶The lady Ann of Cleves died possessed of these manors and estates in the 4th and 5th year of king Philip and queen Mary, when they reverted again to the crown; where the manors of Seale and Kemsing, and the other premises in those parishes, lay till queen Elizabeth, in her first year, granted them to her kinsman, Sir Henry Carey, whom she had advanced that year to the title of lord Hunsdon, baron of Hunsdon, in Hertfordshire, to hold in capite by knights service. (fn. 23) He was descended of an antient family, seated at Cockington, in Devonshire; one of whom was Sir Robert Carey, who in the beginning of king Henry V's reign, acquired great renown by his encountering and overcoming an Arragonian knight, who had performed many notable feats of arms in different countries, and then came to make trial of his prowess here in England, in a long and doubtful combat in Smithfield; for which he was by the king knighted, and restored to part of his father's inheritance, which had been forfeited. From which time he bore, as by the law of arms he might, the coat armour of the vanquished knight, viz. Argent, on a bend sable, three roses of the field barbed and seeded proper; the present bearing of this family: their antient bearing before this being, Gules, a chevron argent between three swans proper; one of which they still retain for their crest. His son was William Carey, who being in the battle of Tewksbury, in the 10th year of king Edward IV. on the part of the Lancastrians, upon the loss of that day, was taken prisoner, and notwithstanding he was promised a pardon, lost his head.
Kemsing is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Rochester, and deanry of Malling.
The church stands on the north side of the village, and is dedicated to St. Edith, whose image, set up in this church-yard, was greatly frequented for the singular benefits she daily dispensed in preserving corn and grain from blasting, mill-dew, and other harm incident to it. (fn. 32) It is a small church, consisting of only one isle and a chancel, having a pointed steeple at the west end, in which are two bells. There are but few monuments or inscriptions in it, in the chancel there is a grave-stone, with the figure of a man, and an inscription in brass in black letter, for Thomas de Hop, and at the east end a mural monument for Michael Jermin, D. D. obt. August 14, 1659, æt. 70. (fn. 33)
In the year 1397, anno 21 king Richard II. the king granted licence to Guy Mone, to give the advowson of the church of Kemsing to the prior and convent of Bermondsey for ever. (fn. 34) In which year they obtained the pope's bull, (fn. 35) to appropriate it with the chapel of Seale annexed to it, to the use and support of their convent; reserving, nevertheless, out of the fruits, rents, and profits of the church and chapel, for a perpetual vicar to be instituted in it by the ordinary, a fit portion, by which he might be maintained, the episcopal dues be paid, and other burthens incumbent on him might be conveniently borne. (fn. 36)
In consequence of which, John (de Bottlesham) bishop of Rochester, by his instrument, dated Oct. 12, anno 1402, (fn. 37) with the consent of the abbot and convent of Bermondesey, endowed the vicarage of this church as follows:
First, he decreed, that there should be a perpetual vicarage, to be held and possessed as a perpetual ecclesiastical benefice in the church of Kemsing, which he endowed out of the fruits, rents, and profits of the said church and the chapel of Seale; the vicar of which, who should be intitled to it, by the abbot and convent, proprietaries of this church, should be from time to time presented to the bishop and his successors, and inducted by the archdeacon; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent, and their successors, proprietaries of it, in right of the same, should take, have, and freely enjoy, all and every kind of great tythes, viz. of corn, of whatsoever sort it be, and of hay, growing within the bounds and limits, or titheable places of the church and chapel, the tithe of the grange or field of Budirevere within this parish only excepted; and he ordained, that the repair of the chancel of the church, in the walls, glass windows, and roof, and also the paying of all papal and royal tenths and procurations, and the procurations of legates of the apostolic see, of archbishops, bishops, and archdeacons, (the bishop and his church of Rochester being always saved harmless, on account of this appropriation) should belong to the abbot and convent, and their successors, to be paid and performed at their costs and expences; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent, and their successors, should cause forty pence in money, or meat and drink of as much value, to be yearly distributed to, and bestowed on, the poor, and more indigent parishioners of the church of Kemsing, towards their relief and support, out of the profits of the church; and he ordained, that the tithes of the food of all animals, and of pidgeons, and other titheable matters accruing within the rectory, and the straw of the church and chapel, so long as the rectory should remain in the hands of the abbot and convent, and be in no wife let to ferm, should belong to them, as proprietaries of the parish church; but if the same should be let to ferm, then he ordained, that the tithes of the food of animals, &c. as above-mentioned, should belong to the vicar of the vicarage of the same, for the time being, for ever, with this exception however, that if the abbot and convent should let to ferm any of their stock, with the rectory, no tithe should be taken of that stock; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent should cause to be built at their costs and expences, for that time only, a competent dwelling on a part of the glebe and soil of the rectory allotted for that purpose, in which he ordained, that the vicar for the time being should reside; and he ordained, that the portion of the vicar should be as follows: that he should take and have all oblations and obventions of the altar, as well in the parish church of Kemsing, as in the chapel of Seale, and the small tythes, of what kind or nature soever they be, accruing within the parish of the said church and chapel, and the titheable places of the same, and also all great and small tithes whatsoever, in and of the grange or field called Budyrevere, within the bounds and limits of the parish of the church of Kemsing; and he ordained, that the vicar for the time being should have the cure of all and singular the parishioners of the said church and chapel, and that he should find, at his own costs and expences, a proper chaplain to celebrate divine offices in the said chapel, and duly administer the sacraments and ecclesiastical sacramentals in the same, and also the bread, wine, and lights, necessary and accustomed at the celebrating divine offices in the said church and chapel; and, lastly, he pronounced and declared, that the above was a sufficient and competent portion for the vicar, and such as from it he would be able to support himself, to keep hospitality, and conveniently support the burthens incumbent on him. Which endowment was confirmed by the abbot and convent the day after, under their common seal. (fn. 38)
The above appropriation and endowment was confirmed by John Langdon, bishop of Rochester, in 1422, who further ordained, with the consent of the abbot and convent, that no future vicar might have any cause to complain, that he should receive yearly, from the abbot and convent, fourteen shillings of English money, beyond the portion before assigned to him as before-mentioned; and it was then agreed between the bishop and the abbot and convent, that the bishop should receive in future, out of the fruits and profits of the said church and chapel, 6s. 8d. yearly of English money, as an indemnity to the church of Rochester for any injury it might have received, by reason of the appropriation of this church and chapel.
All which was confirmed by the abbot and convent, under their common seal, the day and year abovementioned. (fn. 39)
On the dissolution of the monastery of St. Saviour's, Bermondesey, which happened in the 29th year of king Henry VIII. this church, with the chapel of Seale annexed was surrendered, among the rest of the possessions of that house, into the king's hands, and became part of the possessions of the crown, after which queen Elizabeth granted this rectory to Sir Peter Manwood; in king Charles I's reign, it was in the possession of James Bunce, esq. whose descendant, James Bunce, esq. of Crowdleham, in this parish, is the present owner of it.
But the advowson of the vicarage seems to have been granted, with the manor of Kemsing, to Henry Carey, lord Hunsdon, since which it has continued unalienated, for many generations, the property of the earls and dukes of Dorset, and is now in the possession of his grace John Frederick duke of Dorset.
In the 15th year of king Edward I. this church was valued at fifteen marcs. (fn. 40)
¶By virtue of the commission of enquiry into the value of church livings, in 1650, issuing out of chancery, it was returned, that here was a parsonage and vicarage; the parsonage tithes being about forty pounds per annum, and the glebe land thereunto belonging, worth ten pounds, master Bunce being patron, but it was then sequestered, and that the vicarage, tythes, and house, were worth one hundred pounds per annum; that there was issuing out of the parsonage to the vicar, by composition from the abbot, two pounds per annum, and by the will of master Bunce six pounds per annum, in all eighteen pounds, master Barton then incumbent. (fn. 41)
This vicarage, with Seale annexed, is valued in the king's books at 19l. 13s. 4d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 9s. 4d.
www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol3/pp32-50
St Mary, Kemsing, Kent I am mad.
Clearly.
I have all day to travel back home, but here I am , catching the six o'clock ferry from East Cowes, sitting now on the deck, taking photographs as we cast off.
Because I am mad.
I have a couple of places to visit on the way home, so I catch the early ferry, missing breakfast at the hotel. I could have had breakfast and caught the ferry at nine, but that would have meant battling traffic in and out of Newport due to the Floating Bridge being out of action.
So here I am.
Taking shots.
It is the blue hour. Or is it the pink hour in the morning?
I don't know. But sunrise is half an hour away, the engines tone rises, calm water on the river turn to foam, and we move off.
Once the ferry leaves the river, I go back downstairs and buy a coffee and a Twix, then go to the back lounge to see the island blend into the murk of dawn's shadows.
The ferry is only 10% full, so plenty of room to spread out and pretend that there's no other people about. I could have gone back up to snap Southampton in the golden light as the sun had risen, but instead I just sit and wait for the call to return to your cars.
I program the sat nav, so once we were docked and tied up, I was one of the first off, and was soon heading north to the motorway and away from the Southampton rush hour.
Traffic was heavy, but I made good progress, allowing me to stop at Fleet services for breakfast in Costa, before pressing on to the M25 and the chaos that drive east would be.
Traffic much heavier than it was three weeks back, meaning I was half an hour later, which I didn't mind, as the church I planned to visit would be more likely to be unlocked at half nine rather than nine.
West Kent is picturesque, full of pretty villages full of former merchant's houses, now seamlessly turned into what used to be called the stockbroker belt.
Otford was a village, now a suburb of Sevenoaks, the ancient centre of the village is around the pond, and around the edge of the green is the pub and the church.
A parking space outside the papershop offered half an hour's free parking, so I abandoned the car there and limped over the main road to the church, showing well through the bare trees, just waking up as spring arrives.
A modern church centre sits to the north, and having tried the west and south doors, I try going through the church centre, and the doors swing open into the church, no one else was inside.
There was a grand monument, the west wall covered in hatchings and the east window in the Chancel had several Flemish painted panels of saints arranged into a cross.
I take many, many shots.
I am back at the car within the half hour, and a three mile drive away through the rolling countryside is the next target, Kemsing.
We had been here before, but the porch door was locked, but the parish website promised it would be open from nine. And it was.
John Vigar's description stated that access to the Chancel would not be possible, which confused me, but the large arts and crafts recreation of the rood screen, was locked, and the door through the vestry was also out of bounds.
So I took shots through the screen, not ideal, but better than nothing, and I think they came out well.
It was time to go home. So, back in the car I program my phone, and it leads me back to the M20, and from there I know the way.
Lots of trucks and lorries also heading south, but I cruise past them. Its a fine day to be driving, the sun is breaking through the low cloud and mist, making for a pleasant drive.
I have also judged the fuel well, so don't need to refill before stopping at the car hire office.
They give it the once over, I tell them the things which are not working on te brand new car, they make notes, and I am done.
Emma drives me back to St Maggies, dropping me off on Station Road. I walk along to Chez Jelltex, check the garden for new flowers and growth, then go onside.
The cats sleep on, and I am overcome with weariness. MY knee is aching, I am out of painkillers, but massage it, nd its a little better.
I have brunch and a brew, listen to some podcasts, have a shower, unpack the suitcase.
Phew.
It now stays light until gone six, meaning we could have gone for a walk before dinner. But not at the moment. So I cook hash for dinner, which was ten minutes away from being done by the time Jools got home.
So we eat and drink wine.
One day and the weekend will be here.
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A chocolate-box church in a well-maintained churchyard. The nave is twelfth century in date, remodelled in the fourteenth century when the present roof was constructed. The chancel is also early but was reconstructed in the sixteenth century. A north aisle was added in 1890. The character of the church derives almost entirely from the nineteenth-and twentieth-century furnishings with which it is blessed. The rood screen is of the correct proportion and design and in the main dates from 1894 with minimal amounts of old woodwork. The wonderful figures on top are of 1908 and were designed by Sir Ninian Comper - the angels balance on their wheels like unicyclists! Comper also designed the wall paintings in the chancel, the altar, reredos and canopy. In the north aisle is an interesting collection of furnishings. There is a painted tile picture of Kemsing by the Kent artist Donald Maxwell, one of only a handful to survive. The central window is of two bishops and is typical of Comper's work, but it does not carry his usual signature of a strawberry plant. The west window of the north aisle is by Douglas Strachan, 1935, and is an excellent example of his angular figures. By the font is a bronze Arts and Crafts panel of the Virgin and Child by Henry Wilson, the famous turn-of-the-century designer who lived in a neighbouring village and whose work may also be found in the churchyard.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Kemsing
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KEMSING.
THE next parish eastward from Otford is KEMSING, called in the Testa de Nevil, CAMESING, and in the Textus Rossensis, CIMICINGA. (fn. 1) The name of this place seems to have been given to it from some royal camp or fortress, situated here.
THIS PARISH of Kemsing, from its situation, is not much known or frequented, nor is it a pleasant one. It lies partly in the valley and partly on the chalk hills, at a small distance southward from the foot of which the village is situated, at the intersection of the roads from Otford to Ightham, and from the chalk hills to the high road by Seal Chart. Near the centre of it is a water, called St. Edith's well, who was a famous female saint, said to have been born in this parish, and to have wrought many miracles for such as applied to her for relief. (fn. 2) The parish is about two miles square; the soil of it, in the northern part, is mostly chalk, in the southern very fertile, it has about one hundred acres of wood; in the eastern part of it is the seat of Crowdleham, situated near the boundary of the parish of Ightham.
There was a market antiently kept here on a Monday, by grant from king Henry III. which has been long since discontinued, and a fair, which is still kept on Easter Monday. (fn. 3) There was an old knightly family, who took their surname from this place, being called Kempsing, whose coat of arms was, Argent, a sess and chevron, interlaced sable, which was quartered by the Harts of Lullingstone, in right of Peche, who married the heir general of it. (fn. 4)
IN THE SCUTAGE, levied as well on the prelates as the rest of the barons, in the 32d of king Henry II. being the seventh of that reign, towards the expences of the army in Wales. The honour of Kemesing, as it is there called, then being in the king's hands, answered for twenty-nine shillings by the hands of the sheriff of the county. (fn. 5) Soon after which it came into the possession of the earl of Albermarle, who held it of Walter Fitzhelt, as he again did of the king in capite.
In the reign of king John, Baldwin de Betun, who, by favour of king Richard I. had enjoyed the earldom of Albermarle, in Hawis his wife's right, who was daughter land sole heir of William le Gross, earl of Albermarle, was owner of this place, and in the 5th year of that reign granted the lordships of Kemesing, Braborne, and Sutton, in this county, to William Mareschal, earl of Pembroke, with Alice, his sole daughter and heir, in frank marriage. (fn. 6)
In the reign of king John he attached himself closely to the rebellious barons, when his lands were seised on, as escheats to the crown; and this manor, then valued at thirty-six pounds per annum, as appears by the Testa de Nevil, was granted to Fulke de Brent; on the confiscation of whose estates, and the earl's return to his obedience, he again came into possession of it, which happened on the king's death, his father having persuaded him to return to his loyalty once more, and he had many favours conferred on him by king Henry III. in the 7th year of whose reign he had, for his good services against the Welsh, scutage of all his tenants in this and other counties. In the 10th year of that reign, his first wife being dead, he married Alianore, the king's sister, by which he greatly incurred his displeasure; but a reconciliation quickly after taking place, he was again taken into favour, and in the 14th year of that reign had a confirmation of the manors of Kemsing, Braborne, and Sutton, in this county, upon condition, that in case Alianore, his wife, survived him, she should enjoy them during life. (fn. 7) He died possessed of Kemsing in the 15th year of that reign without issue, and lies buried in the Temple church, having his effigies cross legged on his tomb; on which the sheriff of this county had the king's precept to make livery to Alianore, his widow, of those manors. She, after seven years widowhood, remarried Simon de Montford, earl of Leicester, and steward of England, in St. Stephen's chapel, Westminster, the king giving her away with his own hand.
In the 45th year of that reign, the earl of Leicester, heading the discontented barons against the king, continued with them till the battle of Evesham, in the 49th year of it, in which the earl was killed; after whose death, the countess Alianore and her children were forced to forsake England, and she died some time afterwards in the nunnery of Montarges, in France.
In the mean time the four brothers of William earl of Pembroke, successively earls of Pembroke, being dead without issue, their inheritance became divided between the heirs of their five sisters and coheirs; and upon the partition of their interest in the manor of Kemsing, it seems to have become the sole property of Roger, eldest son of Maud the eldest sister, by her husband, Hugh Bigod, earl of Norfolk, (fn. 8) though the time of his coming into the possession of it. I do not find, as Alianore, second wife of William earl of Pembroke, was then living, who was entitled to it for her life.
Roger earl of Norfolk, and marshal of England, who bore for his arms, Per pale or and vert, a lion rampant gules, died of a bruise, which he received at a tour nament, about the 54th of Henry III.'s reign, leaving no issue by Isabel his wife, daughter of William king of Scots; upon which he was succeeded, as earl of Norfolk and marshal of the king's palace, as well as in the possession of this manor, by Roger his nephew, son of Hugh his brother, chief justice of England, (fn. 9) who, in the 7th of king Edward I. claimed, before the justices itinerant, large privileges for this manor; (fn. 10) and afterwards, in the 11th year of that reign, sold it, together with the advowson of this church, to Otho de Grandison, descended of a family, who were of the dukedom of Burgundy, in France, their residence there being called Grandison castle, a man of great account with that prince, who employed him much, and conferred many favours on him.
In the 18th year of that reign, he obtained free warren for all his demesne lands in Kemsing, (fn. 11) and having had summons to parliament among the barons of this realm, he departed this life without issue, leaving William de Grandison, his brother, his next heir; who died possessed of this manor, leaving by his wife, Sibilla, youngest daughter, and one of the coheirs of John de Tregoze, three sons; Peter de Grandison, his eldest son and heir, who, as well as his father, had summons to parliament; John bishop of Exeter; and Otho; and four daughters. (fn. 12)
On his death this manor became the property of Otho, the youngest son, who paid aid for it, in the 20th of king Edward III. as half a knight's fee, which William de Grandison before held in Kemsing of the earl of Leicester. He died possessed of this manor in the 33d year of that reign, (fn. 13) leaving by Beatrix his wife, daughter and coheir of Nicholas Malmains, one son and heir, Thomas, and a daughter, Elizabeth.
Thomas de Grandison, being of full age, had possession granted of this manor, among others; he was afterwards knighted, and died possessed of it in the 50th year of king Edward III. without issue, leaving Margaret his wife surviving, who likewise possessed it at her decease, in the 18th year of king Richard II. After which it came to Sir William de Bryene, or Bryan, who died possessed of it in the 19th year of the same reign, and lies buried in Seale church.
After his death, Sir William Fynes (whose name was originally spelt Fiennes, but about this time came to be written both Fynes and Fenys) became possessed of it, bearing for his arms, Azure, three lions rampant or. He was son of William Fiennes and Joane his wife, third sister and coheir of William de Say; and by Elizabeth his wife, daughter and heir of William Batisford, left issue two sons, Roger and James; from the former of which were descended the several lords Dacre of the south; and from the latter, the viscounts Say and Seale, both which titles are now extinct, (fn. 14) and the present lord Say and Sele.
James, the second son, above mentioned, possessed this manor, and in the 14th of king Henry, VI. was sheriff of this county, and soon afterwards made esquire of the body to that king. In the 24th year of whose reign, being then a knight, he was, by reason that Joane his grandmother was third sister and coheir of William de Say, by a special writ, on March 3d, next year, summoned to Parliament by the title of lord Say and Sele; (fn. 15) and two days afterwards, in consideration of his eminent services, he was, in open parliament, advanced to the dignity of a baron of this realm, by the above title, to him and his heirs male, and in the 27th year of that reign, he had a full confirmation and release of that title from John, lord Clinton, and of the arms of Say, which, on account of his descent from Idonea, the eldest sister of William de Say, might belong to him. In consideration of which he then granted to the lord Clinton, all advowsons of churches, knights fees, &c. which belonged to the latter, by reason of the lordship of Say. (fn. 16)
After which he obtained a grant of the office of constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, to him and his heirs male; was made lord chamberlain, and one of the king's council, and next year lord treasurer of England.
This rise to so high a pitch of honour, increased the hatred of the commons towards him, and served but to make his fall the more sudden and unhappy, for next year they accused him and others in the parliament held at St. Edmunds Bury, of treason, for having ing assented to the release of Anjou, and the delivery of Maine to the French; upon which the king, to appease them, sequestered him from his office of treasurer, and shortly after, on the insurrection of the Kentish men, under Jack Cade, observing their clamour against him, to mitigate it, he committed him prisoner to the tower; shortly after which, this riotous mob entering London, and finding their numbers increase, fetched him thence to Guildhall, and there arraigned him before the lord-mayor, and other the king's justices, notwithstanding his request to be tried by his peers; after which hurrying him to the standard in Cheapside, they cut off his head there, and carried it about on a pole, causing his naked body to be drawn at a horse's tail into Southwark, and there hanged and quartered, though his body was afterwards buried in the church of the Grey Friars, London. (fn. 17)
He left issue, by Emeline Cromer his wife, one son and heir, Sir William Fienes, who was that year, by special writ, summoned to parliament, being seized of an estate tail of the office of constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, by virtue of the patent above-mentioned, to James, his father, his interest in which he soon afterwards sold to Humphry, duke of Buckingham, and his heirs male.
The unhappy contention subsisting at that time between the houses of York and Lancaster for the throne, in which he risqued not only his person, but his whole fortune, brought him into great distresses, and necessitated him to mortgage, and fell the greatest part of his lands. (fn. 18) He married Margaret the daughter and heir of William Wickham, great-grandson of Agnes, sister to William of Wickham, founder of New College, Oxford. The lands of the lord Say being thus alienated the barony lay dormant, and the heirs male of the family were only called Fienes. Henry, his son and heir, though he used the title of lord Say, had never summons to parliament, and it remained unclaimed till the year 1733, when it was claimed by John Twisleton, esq. of Broughton, in Oxfordshire, descended by the female line from the above Sir William Fienes, lord Say and Sele, which claim, though it then failed, was renewed by his son Thomas, who was summoned to parliament as lord Say and Sele, in 1781, and was father to the present Gregory, lord Say and Sele. In the second year of king Edward IV. Sir William Fienes, lord Say and Sele, mentioned above, sold this manor of Kemsing to Sir Geoffry Bulleyn, (fn. 19) a wealthy mercer of London, who had been lord mayor in the 37th year of king Henry VI. whose grandson Thomas, was sheriff of this county in the 3d and 9th years of Henry VIII. and became a man of great note in that reign; for the king in his 3d year made him one of the knights of his body, and afterwards embassador several times to the emperor, and the kings of France and Spain, and in the 17th year of his reign, on account of the great affection which he bore to the lady Anne Bulleyn, his daughter, advanced him to the title of viscount Rochford; and in his 21st year, created him, being then knight of the garter, earl of Wiltshire and Ormond, and made him lord privy seal. (fn. 20) He died in the 30th year of king Henry VIII. possessed of this manor, have ing had by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk, one son, George, executed in his life-time, and two daughters; Anne, wife to king Henry VIII. and Mary, wife of William Carey, esq. of the king's body, and ancestor of the lords Hunsdon, and of the earls of Dover and Monmouth.
George Bulleyn, the son above-mentioned, bearing the title of viscount Rochford in his father's life-time, was, in the 26th year of that reign, made constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, and was much favored by that king, till the time of his change of affection from queen Anne Bulleyn; when the king, to make the path more easy towards the enjoyment of his new passion, in a sudden and unexpected gust of anger, in his 28th year, committed him to the tower, a few days after which, he was arraigned and beheaded, having had no issue, and was buried in St. Peter's chapel in the tower. (fn. 21)
On the death of the earl of Wiltshire without male issue, the king seized on this manor, in right of his late wife, the unfortunate Anne Bulleyn, the earl's elder daughter; and it remained in his hands till the 32d year of his reign, when by his indenture that year, reciting, that as the most noble lady, Anne of Cleves, daugh ter of John, late duke of Cleve, &c. came into his realm of England, on a certain treaty of marriage between himself and the said lady Anne; which marriage, although celebrated in the face of the church, yet was never consummated, for the conditions of it were never performed in due time, and there being other great and important causes, on account of which the convocation of the realm, with assent of the parties, and of the parliament, had declared the marriage to be invalid, there being no prospect of any children from it, notwithstanding which, the said lady was contented to conform to the laws of the realm, and to free herself and her conscience of the said marriage, and to remain at liberty within the realm; therefore the king, considering her high birth and nobility, of his especial grace and favour, granted her, for the maintenance of her noble estate, among other premises, his manors of Hever, Seale, and Kemsing, and his park of Hever, with all their rights, members, and appurtenances, late belonging to Thomas, earl of Wiltshire, deceased, and then in the king's hands; and all messuages, lands and hereditaments whatsoever, in Hever, Seale, and Kemsing, lately purchased by the king of Sir James Bulleyn, and William Bulleyn, clerk, to hold to her during life, so long as she should stay within the realm of England, and not depart out of it, without the licence of the king and his successors, and the king granted the premises free and discharged of all outgoings, rents, pensions, &c. except among others of forty shillings, issuing yearly out of the lands of John Tybolde, called Seale Park. (fn. 22)
¶The lady Ann of Cleves died possessed of these manors and estates in the 4th and 5th year of king Philip and queen Mary, when they reverted again to the crown; where the manors of Seale and Kemsing, and the other premises in those parishes, lay till queen Elizabeth, in her first year, granted them to her kinsman, Sir Henry Carey, whom she had advanced that year to the title of lord Hunsdon, baron of Hunsdon, in Hertfordshire, to hold in capite by knights service. (fn. 23) He was descended of an antient family, seated at Cockington, in Devonshire; one of whom was Sir Robert Carey, who in the beginning of king Henry V's reign, acquired great renown by his encountering and overcoming an Arragonian knight, who had performed many notable feats of arms in different countries, and then came to make trial of his prowess here in England, in a long and doubtful combat in Smithfield; for which he was by the king knighted, and restored to part of his father's inheritance, which had been forfeited. From which time he bore, as by the law of arms he might, the coat armour of the vanquished knight, viz. Argent, on a bend sable, three roses of the field barbed and seeded proper; the present bearing of this family: their antient bearing before this being, Gules, a chevron argent between three swans proper; one of which they still retain for their crest. His son was William Carey, who being in the battle of Tewksbury, in the 10th year of king Edward IV. on the part of the Lancastrians, upon the loss of that day, was taken prisoner, and notwithstanding he was promised a pardon, lost his head.
Kemsing is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Rochester, and deanry of Malling.
The church stands on the north side of the village, and is dedicated to St. Edith, whose image, set up in this church-yard, was greatly frequented for the singular benefits she daily dispensed in preserving corn and grain from blasting, mill-dew, and other harm incident to it. (fn. 32) It is a small church, consisting of only one isle and a chancel, having a pointed steeple at the west end, in which are two bells. There are but few monuments or inscriptions in it, in the chancel there is a grave-stone, with the figure of a man, and an inscription in brass in black letter, for Thomas de Hop, and at the east end a mural monument for Michael Jermin, D. D. obt. August 14, 1659, æt. 70. (fn. 33)
In the year 1397, anno 21 king Richard II. the king granted licence to Guy Mone, to give the advowson of the church of Kemsing to the prior and convent of Bermondsey for ever. (fn. 34) In which year they obtained the pope's bull, (fn. 35) to appropriate it with the chapel of Seale annexed to it, to the use and support of their convent; reserving, nevertheless, out of the fruits, rents, and profits of the church and chapel, for a perpetual vicar to be instituted in it by the ordinary, a fit portion, by which he might be maintained, the episcopal dues be paid, and other burthens incumbent on him might be conveniently borne. (fn. 36)
In consequence of which, John (de Bottlesham) bishop of Rochester, by his instrument, dated Oct. 12, anno 1402, (fn. 37) with the consent of the abbot and convent of Bermondesey, endowed the vicarage of this church as follows:
First, he decreed, that there should be a perpetual vicarage, to be held and possessed as a perpetual ecclesiastical benefice in the church of Kemsing, which he endowed out of the fruits, rents, and profits of the said church and the chapel of Seale; the vicar of which, who should be intitled to it, by the abbot and convent, proprietaries of this church, should be from time to time presented to the bishop and his successors, and inducted by the archdeacon; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent, and their successors, proprietaries of it, in right of the same, should take, have, and freely enjoy, all and every kind of great tythes, viz. of corn, of whatsoever sort it be, and of hay, growing within the bounds and limits, or titheable places of the church and chapel, the tithe of the grange or field of Budirevere within this parish only excepted; and he ordained, that the repair of the chancel of the church, in the walls, glass windows, and roof, and also the paying of all papal and royal tenths and procurations, and the procurations of legates of the apostolic see, of archbishops, bishops, and archdeacons, (the bishop and his church of Rochester being always saved harmless, on account of this appropriation) should belong to the abbot and convent, and their successors, to be paid and performed at their costs and expences; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent, and their successors, should cause forty pence in money, or meat and drink of as much value, to be yearly distributed to, and bestowed on, the poor, and more indigent parishioners of the church of Kemsing, towards their relief and support, out of the profits of the church; and he ordained, that the tithes of the food of all animals, and of pidgeons, and other titheable matters accruing within the rectory, and the straw of the church and chapel, so long as the rectory should remain in the hands of the abbot and convent, and be in no wife let to ferm, should belong to them, as proprietaries of the parish church; but if the same should be let to ferm, then he ordained, that the tithes of the food of animals, &c. as above-mentioned, should belong to the vicar of the vicarage of the same, for the time being, for ever, with this exception however, that if the abbot and convent should let to ferm any of their stock, with the rectory, no tithe should be taken of that stock; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent should cause to be built at their costs and expences, for that time only, a competent dwelling on a part of the glebe and soil of the rectory allotted for that purpose, in which he ordained, that the vicar for the time being should reside; and he ordained, that the portion of the vicar should be as follows: that he should take and have all oblations and obventions of the altar, as well in the parish church of Kemsing, as in the chapel of Seale, and the small tythes, of what kind or nature soever they be, accruing within the parish of the said church and chapel, and the titheable places of the same, and also all great and small tithes whatsoever, in and of the grange or field called Budyrevere, within the bounds and limits of the parish of the church of Kemsing; and he ordained, that the vicar for the time being should have the cure of all and singular the parishioners of the said church and chapel, and that he should find, at his own costs and expences, a proper chaplain to celebrate divine offices in the said chapel, and duly administer the sacraments and ecclesiastical sacramentals in the same, and also the bread, wine, and lights, necessary and accustomed at the celebrating divine offices in the said church and chapel; and, lastly, he pronounced and declared, that the above was a sufficient and competent portion for the vicar, and such as from it he would be able to support himself, to keep hospitality, and conveniently support the burthens incumbent on him. Which endowment was confirmed by the abbot and convent the day after, under their common seal. (fn. 38)
The above appropriation and endowment was confirmed by John Langdon, bishop of Rochester, in 1422, who further ordained, with the consent of the abbot and convent, that no future vicar might have any cause to complain, that he should receive yearly, from the abbot and convent, fourteen shillings of English money, beyond the portion before assigned to him as before-mentioned; and it was then agreed between the bishop and the abbot and convent, that the bishop should receive in future, out of the fruits and profits of the said church and chapel, 6s. 8d. yearly of English money, as an indemnity to the church of Rochester for any injury it might have received, by reason of the appropriation of this church and chapel.
All which was confirmed by the abbot and convent, under their common seal, the day and year abovementioned. (fn. 39)
On the dissolution of the monastery of St. Saviour's, Bermondesey, which happened in the 29th year of king Henry VIII. this church, with the chapel of Seale annexed was surrendered, among the rest of the possessions of that house, into the king's hands, and became part of the possessions of the crown, after which queen Elizabeth granted this rectory to Sir Peter Manwood; in king Charles I's reign, it was in the possession of James Bunce, esq. whose descendant, James Bunce, esq. of Crowdleham, in this parish, is the present owner of it.
But the advowson of the vicarage seems to have been granted, with the manor of Kemsing, to Henry Carey, lord Hunsdon, since which it has continued unalienated, for many generations, the property of the earls and dukes of Dorset, and is now in the possession of his grace John Frederick duke of Dorset.
In the 15th year of king Edward I. this church was valued at fifteen marcs. (fn. 40)
¶By virtue of the commission of enquiry into the value of church livings, in 1650, issuing out of chancery, it was returned, that here was a parsonage and vicarage; the parsonage tithes being about forty pounds per annum, and the glebe land thereunto belonging, worth ten pounds, master Bunce being patron, but it was then sequestered, and that the vicarage, tythes, and house, were worth one hundred pounds per annum; that there was issuing out of the parsonage to the vicar, by composition from the abbot, two pounds per annum, and by the will of master Bunce six pounds per annum, in all eighteen pounds, master Barton then incumbent. (fn. 41)
This vicarage, with Seale annexed, is valued in the king's books at 19l. 13s. 4d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 9s. 4d.
www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol3/pp32-50
St Mary, Kemsing, Kent I am mad.
Clearly.
I have all day to travel back home, but here I am , catching the six o'clock ferry from East Cowes, sitting now on the deck, taking photographs as we cast off.
Because I am mad.
I have a couple of places to visit on the way home, so I catch the early ferry, missing breakfast at the hotel. I could have had breakfast and caught the ferry at nine, but that would have meant battling traffic in and out of Newport due to the Floating Bridge being out of action.
So here I am.
Taking shots.
It is the blue hour. Or is it the pink hour in the morning?
I don't know. But sunrise is half an hour away, the engines tone rises, calm water on the river turn to foam, and we move off.
Once the ferry leaves the river, I go back downstairs and buy a coffee and a Twix, then go to the back lounge to see the island blend into the murk of dawn's shadows.
The ferry is only 10% full, so plenty of room to spread out and pretend that there's no other people about. I could have gone back up to snap Southampton in the golden light as the sun had risen, but instead I just sit and wait for the call to return to your cars.
I program the sat nav, so once we were docked and tied up, I was one of the first off, and was soon heading north to the motorway and away from the Southampton rush hour.
Traffic was heavy, but I made good progress, allowing me to stop at Fleet services for breakfast in Costa, before pressing on to the M25 and the chaos that drive east would be.
Traffic much heavier than it was three weeks back, meaning I was half an hour later, which I didn't mind, as the church I planned to visit would be more likely to be unlocked at half nine rather than nine.
West Kent is picturesque, full of pretty villages full of former merchant's houses, now seamlessly turned into what used to be called the stockbroker belt.
Otford was a village, now a suburb of Sevenoaks, the ancient centre of the village is around the pond, and around the edge of the green is the pub and the church.
A parking space outside the papershop offered half an hour's free parking, so I abandoned the car there and limped over the main road to the church, showing well through the bare trees, just waking up as spring arrives.
A modern church centre sits to the north, and having tried the west and south doors, I try going through the church centre, and the doors swing open into the church, no one else was inside.
There was a grand monument, the west wall covered in hatchings and the east window in the Chancel had several Flemish painted panels of saints arranged into a cross.
I take many, many shots.
I am back at the car within the half hour, and a three mile drive away through the rolling countryside is the next target, Kemsing.
We had been here before, but the porch door was locked, but the parish website promised it would be open from nine. And it was.
John Vigar's description stated that access to the Chancel would not be possible, which confused me, but the large arts and crafts recreation of the rood screen, was locked, and the door through the vestry was also out of bounds.
So I took shots through the screen, not ideal, but better than nothing, and I think they came out well.
It was time to go home. So, back in the car I program my phone, and it leads me back to the M20, and from there I know the way.
Lots of trucks and lorries also heading south, but I cruise past them. Its a fine day to be driving, the sun is breaking through the low cloud and mist, making for a pleasant drive.
I have also judged the fuel well, so don't need to refill before stopping at the car hire office.
They give it the once over, I tell them the things which are not working on te brand new car, they make notes, and I am done.
Emma drives me back to St Maggies, dropping me off on Station Road. I walk along to Chez Jelltex, check the garden for new flowers and growth, then go onside.
The cats sleep on, and I am overcome with weariness. MY knee is aching, I am out of painkillers, but massage it, nd its a little better.
I have brunch and a brew, listen to some podcasts, have a shower, unpack the suitcase.
Phew.
It now stays light until gone six, meaning we could have gone for a walk before dinner. But not at the moment. So I cook hash for dinner, which was ten minutes away from being done by the time Jools got home.
So we eat and drink wine.
One day and the weekend will be here.
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A chocolate-box church in a well-maintained churchyard. The nave is twelfth century in date, remodelled in the fourteenth century when the present roof was constructed. The chancel is also early but was reconstructed in the sixteenth century. A north aisle was added in 1890. The character of the church derives almost entirely from the nineteenth-and twentieth-century furnishings with which it is blessed. The rood screen is of the correct proportion and design and in the main dates from 1894 with minimal amounts of old woodwork. The wonderful figures on top are of 1908 and were designed by Sir Ninian Comper - the angels balance on their wheels like unicyclists! Comper also designed the wall paintings in the chancel, the altar, reredos and canopy. In the north aisle is an interesting collection of furnishings. There is a painted tile picture of Kemsing by the Kent artist Donald Maxwell, one of only a handful to survive. The central window is of two bishops and is typical of Comper's work, but it does not carry his usual signature of a strawberry plant. The west window of the north aisle is by Douglas Strachan, 1935, and is an excellent example of his angular figures. By the font is a bronze Arts and Crafts panel of the Virgin and Child by Henry Wilson, the famous turn-of-the-century designer who lived in a neighbouring village and whose work may also be found in the churchyard.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Kemsing
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KEMSING.
THE next parish eastward from Otford is KEMSING, called in the Testa de Nevil, CAMESING, and in the Textus Rossensis, CIMICINGA. (fn. 1) The name of this place seems to have been given to it from some royal camp or fortress, situated here.
THIS PARISH of Kemsing, from its situation, is not much known or frequented, nor is it a pleasant one. It lies partly in the valley and partly on the chalk hills, at a small distance southward from the foot of which the village is situated, at the intersection of the roads from Otford to Ightham, and from the chalk hills to the high road by Seal Chart. Near the centre of it is a water, called St. Edith's well, who was a famous female saint, said to have been born in this parish, and to have wrought many miracles for such as applied to her for relief. (fn. 2) The parish is about two miles square; the soil of it, in the northern part, is mostly chalk, in the southern very fertile, it has about one hundred acres of wood; in the eastern part of it is the seat of Crowdleham, situated near the boundary of the parish of Ightham.
There was a market antiently kept here on a Monday, by grant from king Henry III. which has been long since discontinued, and a fair, which is still kept on Easter Monday. (fn. 3) There was an old knightly family, who took their surname from this place, being called Kempsing, whose coat of arms was, Argent, a sess and chevron, interlaced sable, which was quartered by the Harts of Lullingstone, in right of Peche, who married the heir general of it. (fn. 4)
IN THE SCUTAGE, levied as well on the prelates as the rest of the barons, in the 32d of king Henry II. being the seventh of that reign, towards the expences of the army in Wales. The honour of Kemesing, as it is there called, then being in the king's hands, answered for twenty-nine shillings by the hands of the sheriff of the county. (fn. 5) Soon after which it came into the possession of the earl of Albermarle, who held it of Walter Fitzhelt, as he again did of the king in capite.
In the reign of king John, Baldwin de Betun, who, by favour of king Richard I. had enjoyed the earldom of Albermarle, in Hawis his wife's right, who was daughter land sole heir of William le Gross, earl of Albermarle, was owner of this place, and in the 5th year of that reign granted the lordships of Kemesing, Braborne, and Sutton, in this county, to William Mareschal, earl of Pembroke, with Alice, his sole daughter and heir, in frank marriage. (fn. 6)
In the reign of king John he attached himself closely to the rebellious barons, when his lands were seised on, as escheats to the crown; and this manor, then valued at thirty-six pounds per annum, as appears by the Testa de Nevil, was granted to Fulke de Brent; on the confiscation of whose estates, and the earl's return to his obedience, he again came into possession of it, which happened on the king's death, his father having persuaded him to return to his loyalty once more, and he had many favours conferred on him by king Henry III. in the 7th year of whose reign he had, for his good services against the Welsh, scutage of all his tenants in this and other counties. In the 10th year of that reign, his first wife being dead, he married Alianore, the king's sister, by which he greatly incurred his displeasure; but a reconciliation quickly after taking place, he was again taken into favour, and in the 14th year of that reign had a confirmation of the manors of Kemsing, Braborne, and Sutton, in this county, upon condition, that in case Alianore, his wife, survived him, she should enjoy them during life. (fn. 7) He died possessed of Kemsing in the 15th year of that reign without issue, and lies buried in the Temple church, having his effigies cross legged on his tomb; on which the sheriff of this county had the king's precept to make livery to Alianore, his widow, of those manors. She, after seven years widowhood, remarried Simon de Montford, earl of Leicester, and steward of England, in St. Stephen's chapel, Westminster, the king giving her away with his own hand.
In the 45th year of that reign, the earl of Leicester, heading the discontented barons against the king, continued with them till the battle of Evesham, in the 49th year of it, in which the earl was killed; after whose death, the countess Alianore and her children were forced to forsake England, and she died some time afterwards in the nunnery of Montarges, in France.
In the mean time the four brothers of William earl of Pembroke, successively earls of Pembroke, being dead without issue, their inheritance became divided between the heirs of their five sisters and coheirs; and upon the partition of their interest in the manor of Kemsing, it seems to have become the sole property of Roger, eldest son of Maud the eldest sister, by her husband, Hugh Bigod, earl of Norfolk, (fn. 8) though the time of his coming into the possession of it. I do not find, as Alianore, second wife of William earl of Pembroke, was then living, who was entitled to it for her life.
Roger earl of Norfolk, and marshal of England, who bore for his arms, Per pale or and vert, a lion rampant gules, died of a bruise, which he received at a tour nament, about the 54th of Henry III.'s reign, leaving no issue by Isabel his wife, daughter of William king of Scots; upon which he was succeeded, as earl of Norfolk and marshal of the king's palace, as well as in the possession of this manor, by Roger his nephew, son of Hugh his brother, chief justice of England, (fn. 9) who, in the 7th of king Edward I. claimed, before the justices itinerant, large privileges for this manor; (fn. 10) and afterwards, in the 11th year of that reign, sold it, together with the advowson of this church, to Otho de Grandison, descended of a family, who were of the dukedom of Burgundy, in France, their residence there being called Grandison castle, a man of great account with that prince, who employed him much, and conferred many favours on him.
In the 18th year of that reign, he obtained free warren for all his demesne lands in Kemsing, (fn. 11) and having had summons to parliament among the barons of this realm, he departed this life without issue, leaving William de Grandison, his brother, his next heir; who died possessed of this manor, leaving by his wife, Sibilla, youngest daughter, and one of the coheirs of John de Tregoze, three sons; Peter de Grandison, his eldest son and heir, who, as well as his father, had summons to parliament; John bishop of Exeter; and Otho; and four daughters. (fn. 12)
On his death this manor became the property of Otho, the youngest son, who paid aid for it, in the 20th of king Edward III. as half a knight's fee, which William de Grandison before held in Kemsing of the earl of Leicester. He died possessed of this manor in the 33d year of that reign, (fn. 13) leaving by Beatrix his wife, daughter and coheir of Nicholas Malmains, one son and heir, Thomas, and a daughter, Elizabeth.
Thomas de Grandison, being of full age, had possession granted of this manor, among others; he was afterwards knighted, and died possessed of it in the 50th year of king Edward III. without issue, leaving Margaret his wife surviving, who likewise possessed it at her decease, in the 18th year of king Richard II. After which it came to Sir William de Bryene, or Bryan, who died possessed of it in the 19th year of the same reign, and lies buried in Seale church.
After his death, Sir William Fynes (whose name was originally spelt Fiennes, but about this time came to be written both Fynes and Fenys) became possessed of it, bearing for his arms, Azure, three lions rampant or. He was son of William Fiennes and Joane his wife, third sister and coheir of William de Say; and by Elizabeth his wife, daughter and heir of William Batisford, left issue two sons, Roger and James; from the former of which were descended the several lords Dacre of the south; and from the latter, the viscounts Say and Seale, both which titles are now extinct, (fn. 14) and the present lord Say and Sele.
James, the second son, above mentioned, possessed this manor, and in the 14th of king Henry, VI. was sheriff of this county, and soon afterwards made esquire of the body to that king. In the 24th year of whose reign, being then a knight, he was, by reason that Joane his grandmother was third sister and coheir of William de Say, by a special writ, on March 3d, next year, summoned to Parliament by the title of lord Say and Sele; (fn. 15) and two days afterwards, in consideration of his eminent services, he was, in open parliament, advanced to the dignity of a baron of this realm, by the above title, to him and his heirs male, and in the 27th year of that reign, he had a full confirmation and release of that title from John, lord Clinton, and of the arms of Say, which, on account of his descent from Idonea, the eldest sister of William de Say, might belong to him. In consideration of which he then granted to the lord Clinton, all advowsons of churches, knights fees, &c. which belonged to the latter, by reason of the lordship of Say. (fn. 16)
After which he obtained a grant of the office of constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, to him and his heirs male; was made lord chamberlain, and one of the king's council, and next year lord treasurer of England.
This rise to so high a pitch of honour, increased the hatred of the commons towards him, and served but to make his fall the more sudden and unhappy, for next year they accused him and others in the parliament held at St. Edmunds Bury, of treason, for having ing assented to the release of Anjou, and the delivery of Maine to the French; upon which the king, to appease them, sequestered him from his office of treasurer, and shortly after, on the insurrection of the Kentish men, under Jack Cade, observing their clamour against him, to mitigate it, he committed him prisoner to the tower; shortly after which, this riotous mob entering London, and finding their numbers increase, fetched him thence to Guildhall, and there arraigned him before the lord-mayor, and other the king's justices, notwithstanding his request to be tried by his peers; after which hurrying him to the standard in Cheapside, they cut off his head there, and carried it about on a pole, causing his naked body to be drawn at a horse's tail into Southwark, and there hanged and quartered, though his body was afterwards buried in the church of the Grey Friars, London. (fn. 17)
He left issue, by Emeline Cromer his wife, one son and heir, Sir William Fienes, who was that year, by special writ, summoned to parliament, being seized of an estate tail of the office of constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, by virtue of the patent above-mentioned, to James, his father, his interest in which he soon afterwards sold to Humphry, duke of Buckingham, and his heirs male.
The unhappy contention subsisting at that time between the houses of York and Lancaster for the throne, in which he risqued not only his person, but his whole fortune, brought him into great distresses, and necessitated him to mortgage, and fell the greatest part of his lands. (fn. 18) He married Margaret the daughter and heir of William Wickham, great-grandson of Agnes, sister to William of Wickham, founder of New College, Oxford. The lands of the lord Say being thus alienated the barony lay dormant, and the heirs male of the family were only called Fienes. Henry, his son and heir, though he used the title of lord Say, had never summons to parliament, and it remained unclaimed till the year 1733, when it was claimed by John Twisleton, esq. of Broughton, in Oxfordshire, descended by the female line from the above Sir William Fienes, lord Say and Sele, which claim, though it then failed, was renewed by his son Thomas, who was summoned to parliament as lord Say and Sele, in 1781, and was father to the present Gregory, lord Say and Sele. In the second year of king Edward IV. Sir William Fienes, lord Say and Sele, mentioned above, sold this manor of Kemsing to Sir Geoffry Bulleyn, (fn. 19) a wealthy mercer of London, who had been lord mayor in the 37th year of king Henry VI. whose grandson Thomas, was sheriff of this county in the 3d and 9th years of Henry VIII. and became a man of great note in that reign; for the king in his 3d year made him one of the knights of his body, and afterwards embassador several times to the emperor, and the kings of France and Spain, and in the 17th year of his reign, on account of the great affection which he bore to the lady Anne Bulleyn, his daughter, advanced him to the title of viscount Rochford; and in his 21st year, created him, being then knight of the garter, earl of Wiltshire and Ormond, and made him lord privy seal. (fn. 20) He died in the 30th year of king Henry VIII. possessed of this manor, have ing had by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk, one son, George, executed in his life-time, and two daughters; Anne, wife to king Henry VIII. and Mary, wife of William Carey, esq. of the king's body, and ancestor of the lords Hunsdon, and of the earls of Dover and Monmouth.
George Bulleyn, the son above-mentioned, bearing the title of viscount Rochford in his father's life-time, was, in the 26th year of that reign, made constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, and was much favored by that king, till the time of his change of affection from queen Anne Bulleyn; when the king, to make the path more easy towards the enjoyment of his new passion, in a sudden and unexpected gust of anger, in his 28th year, committed him to the tower, a few days after which, he was arraigned and beheaded, having had no issue, and was buried in St. Peter's chapel in the tower. (fn. 21)
On the death of the earl of Wiltshire without male issue, the king seized on this manor, in right of his late wife, the unfortunate Anne Bulleyn, the earl's elder daughter; and it remained in his hands till the 32d year of his reign, when by his indenture that year, reciting, that as the most noble lady, Anne of Cleves, daugh ter of John, late duke of Cleve, &c. came into his realm of England, on a certain treaty of marriage between himself and the said lady Anne; which marriage, although celebrated in the face of the church, yet was never consummated, for the conditions of it were never performed in due time, and there being other great and important causes, on account of which the convocation of the realm, with assent of the parties, and of the parliament, had declared the marriage to be invalid, there being no prospect of any children from it, notwithstanding which, the said lady was contented to conform to the laws of the realm, and to free herself and her conscience of the said marriage, and to remain at liberty within the realm; therefore the king, considering her high birth and nobility, of his especial grace and favour, granted her, for the maintenance of her noble estate, among other premises, his manors of Hever, Seale, and Kemsing, and his park of Hever, with all their rights, members, and appurtenances, late belonging to Thomas, earl of Wiltshire, deceased, and then in the king's hands; and all messuages, lands and hereditaments whatsoever, in Hever, Seale, and Kemsing, lately purchased by the king of Sir James Bulleyn, and William Bulleyn, clerk, to hold to her during life, so long as she should stay within the realm of England, and not depart out of it, without the licence of the king and his successors, and the king granted the premises free and discharged of all outgoings, rents, pensions, &c. except among others of forty shillings, issuing yearly out of the lands of John Tybolde, called Seale Park. (fn. 22)
¶The lady Ann of Cleves died possessed of these manors and estates in the 4th and 5th year of king Philip and queen Mary, when they reverted again to the crown; where the manors of Seale and Kemsing, and the other premises in those parishes, lay till queen Elizabeth, in her first year, granted them to her kinsman, Sir Henry Carey, whom she had advanced that year to the title of lord Hunsdon, baron of Hunsdon, in Hertfordshire, to hold in capite by knights service. (fn. 23) He was descended of an antient family, seated at Cockington, in Devonshire; one of whom was Sir Robert Carey, who in the beginning of king Henry V's reign, acquired great renown by his encountering and overcoming an Arragonian knight, who had performed many notable feats of arms in different countries, and then came to make trial of his prowess here in England, in a long and doubtful combat in Smithfield; for which he was by the king knighted, and restored to part of his father's inheritance, which had been forfeited. From which time he bore, as by the law of arms he might, the coat armour of the vanquished knight, viz. Argent, on a bend sable, three roses of the field barbed and seeded proper; the present bearing of this family: their antient bearing before this being, Gules, a chevron argent between three swans proper; one of which they still retain for their crest. His son was William Carey, who being in the battle of Tewksbury, in the 10th year of king Edward IV. on the part of the Lancastrians, upon the loss of that day, was taken prisoner, and notwithstanding he was promised a pardon, lost his head.
Kemsing is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Rochester, and deanry of Malling.
The church stands on the north side of the village, and is dedicated to St. Edith, whose image, set up in this church-yard, was greatly frequented for the singular benefits she daily dispensed in preserving corn and grain from blasting, mill-dew, and other harm incident to it. (fn. 32) It is a small church, consisting of only one isle and a chancel, having a pointed steeple at the west end, in which are two bells. There are but few monuments or inscriptions in it, in the chancel there is a grave-stone, with the figure of a man, and an inscription in brass in black letter, for Thomas de Hop, and at the east end a mural monument for Michael Jermin, D. D. obt. August 14, 1659, æt. 70. (fn. 33)
In the year 1397, anno 21 king Richard II. the king granted licence to Guy Mone, to give the advowson of the church of Kemsing to the prior and convent of Bermondsey for ever. (fn. 34) In which year they obtained the pope's bull, (fn. 35) to appropriate it with the chapel of Seale annexed to it, to the use and support of their convent; reserving, nevertheless, out of the fruits, rents, and profits of the church and chapel, for a perpetual vicar to be instituted in it by the ordinary, a fit portion, by which he might be maintained, the episcopal dues be paid, and other burthens incumbent on him might be conveniently borne. (fn. 36)
In consequence of which, John (de Bottlesham) bishop of Rochester, by his instrument, dated Oct. 12, anno 1402, (fn. 37) with the consent of the abbot and convent of Bermondesey, endowed the vicarage of this church as follows:
First, he decreed, that there should be a perpetual vicarage, to be held and possessed as a perpetual ecclesiastical benefice in the church of Kemsing, which he endowed out of the fruits, rents, and profits of the said church and the chapel of Seale; the vicar of which, who should be intitled to it, by the abbot and convent, proprietaries of this church, should be from time to time presented to the bishop and his successors, and inducted by the archdeacon; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent, and their successors, proprietaries of it, in right of the same, should take, have, and freely enjoy, all and every kind of great tythes, viz. of corn, of whatsoever sort it be, and of hay, growing within the bounds and limits, or titheable places of the church and chapel, the tithe of the grange or field of Budirevere within this parish only excepted; and he ordained, that the repair of the chancel of the church, in the walls, glass windows, and roof, and also the paying of all papal and royal tenths and procurations, and the procurations of legates of the apostolic see, of archbishops, bishops, and archdeacons, (the bishop and his church of Rochester being always saved harmless, on account of this appropriation) should belong to the abbot and convent, and their successors, to be paid and performed at their costs and expences; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent, and their successors, should cause forty pence in money, or meat and drink of as much value, to be yearly distributed to, and bestowed on, the poor, and more indigent parishioners of the church of Kemsing, towards their relief and support, out of the profits of the church; and he ordained, that the tithes of the food of all animals, and of pidgeons, and other titheable matters accruing within the rectory, and the straw of the church and chapel, so long as the rectory should remain in the hands of the abbot and convent, and be in no wife let to ferm, should belong to them, as proprietaries of the parish church; but if the same should be let to ferm, then he ordained, that the tithes of the food of animals, &c. as above-mentioned, should belong to the vicar of the vicarage of the same, for the time being, for ever, with this exception however, that if the abbot and convent should let to ferm any of their stock, with the rectory, no tithe should be taken of that stock; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent should cause to be built at their costs and expences, for that time only, a competent dwelling on a part of the glebe and soil of the rectory allotted for that purpose, in which he ordained, that the vicar for the time being should reside; and he ordained, that the portion of the vicar should be as follows: that he should take and have all oblations and obventions of the altar, as well in the parish church of Kemsing, as in the chapel of Seale, and the small tythes, of what kind or nature soever they be, accruing within the parish of the said church and chapel, and the titheable places of the same, and also all great and small tithes whatsoever, in and of the grange or field called Budyrevere, within the bounds and limits of the parish of the church of Kemsing; and he ordained, that the vicar for the time being should have the cure of all and singular the parishioners of the said church and chapel, and that he should find, at his own costs and expences, a proper chaplain to celebrate divine offices in the said chapel, and duly administer the sacraments and ecclesiastical sacramentals in the same, and also the bread, wine, and lights, necessary and accustomed at the celebrating divine offices in the said church and chapel; and, lastly, he pronounced and declared, that the above was a sufficient and competent portion for the vicar, and such as from it he would be able to support himself, to keep hospitality, and conveniently support the burthens incumbent on him. Which endowment was confirmed by the abbot and convent the day after, under their common seal. (fn. 38)
The above appropriation and endowment was confirmed by John Langdon, bishop of Rochester, in 1422, who further ordained, with the consent of the abbot and convent, that no future vicar might have any cause to complain, that he should receive yearly, from the abbot and convent, fourteen shillings of English money, beyond the portion before assigned to him as before-mentioned; and it was then agreed between the bishop and the abbot and convent, that the bishop should receive in future, out of the fruits and profits of the said church and chapel, 6s. 8d. yearly of English money, as an indemnity to the church of Rochester for any injury it might have received, by reason of the appropriation of this church and chapel.
All which was confirmed by the abbot and convent, under their common seal, the day and year abovementioned. (fn. 39)
On the dissolution of the monastery of St. Saviour's, Bermondesey, which happened in the 29th year of king Henry VIII. this church, with the chapel of Seale annexed was surrendered, among the rest of the possessions of that house, into the king's hands, and became part of the possessions of the crown, after which queen Elizabeth granted this rectory to Sir Peter Manwood; in king Charles I's reign, it was in the possession of James Bunce, esq. whose descendant, James Bunce, esq. of Crowdleham, in this parish, is the present owner of it.
But the advowson of the vicarage seems to have been granted, with the manor of Kemsing, to Henry Carey, lord Hunsdon, since which it has continued unalienated, for many generations, the property of the earls and dukes of Dorset, and is now in the possession of his grace John Frederick duke of Dorset.
In the 15th year of king Edward I. this church was valued at fifteen marcs. (fn. 40)
¶By virtue of the commission of enquiry into the value of church livings, in 1650, issuing out of chancery, it was returned, that here was a parsonage and vicarage; the parsonage tithes being about forty pounds per annum, and the glebe land thereunto belonging, worth ten pounds, master Bunce being patron, but it was then sequestered, and that the vicarage, tythes, and house, were worth one hundred pounds per annum; that there was issuing out of the parsonage to the vicar, by composition from the abbot, two pounds per annum, and by the will of master Bunce six pounds per annum, in all eighteen pounds, master Barton then incumbent. (fn. 41)
This vicarage, with Seale annexed, is valued in the king's books at 19l. 13s. 4d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 9s. 4d.
www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol3/pp32-50
St Mary, Kemsing, Kent I am mad.
Clearly.
I have all day to travel back home, but here I am , catching the six o'clock ferry from East Cowes, sitting now on the deck, taking photographs as we cast off.
Because I am mad.
I have a couple of places to visit on the way home, so I catch the early ferry, missing breakfast at the hotel. I could have had breakfast and caught the ferry at nine, but that would have meant battling traffic in and out of Newport due to the Floating Bridge being out of action.
So here I am.
Taking shots.
It is the blue hour. Or is it the pink hour in the morning?
I don't know. But sunrise is half an hour away, the engines tone rises, calm water on the river turn to foam, and we move off.
Once the ferry leaves the river, I go back downstairs and buy a coffee and a Twix, then go to the back lounge to see the island blend into the murk of dawn's shadows.
The ferry is only 10% full, so plenty of room to spread out and pretend that there's no other people about. I could have gone back up to snap Southampton in the golden light as the sun had risen, but instead I just sit and wait for the call to return to your cars.
I program the sat nav, so once we were docked and tied up, I was one of the first off, and was soon heading north to the motorway and away from the Southampton rush hour.
Traffic was heavy, but I made good progress, allowing me to stop at Fleet services for breakfast in Costa, before pressing on to the M25 and the chaos that drive east would be.
Traffic much heavier than it was three weeks back, meaning I was half an hour later, which I didn't mind, as the church I planned to visit would be more likely to be unlocked at half nine rather than nine.
West Kent is picturesque, full of pretty villages full of former merchant's houses, now seamlessly turned into what used to be called the stockbroker belt.
Otford was a village, now a suburb of Sevenoaks, the ancient centre of the village is around the pond, and around the edge of the green is the pub and the church.
A parking space outside the papershop offered half an hour's free parking, so I abandoned the car there and limped over the main road to the church, showing well through the bare trees, just waking up as spring arrives.
A modern church centre sits to the north, and having tried the west and south doors, I try going through the church centre, and the doors swing open into the church, no one else was inside.
There was a grand monument, the west wall covered in hatchings and the east window in the Chancel had several Flemish painted panels of saints arranged into a cross.
I take many, many shots.
I am back at the car within the half hour, and a three mile drive away through the rolling countryside is the next target, Kemsing.
We had been here before, but the porch door was locked, but the parish website promised it would be open from nine. And it was.
John Vigar's description stated that access to the Chancel would not be possible, which confused me, but the large arts and crafts recreation of the rood screen, was locked, and the door through the vestry was also out of bounds.
So I took shots through the screen, not ideal, but better than nothing, and I think they came out well.
It was time to go home. So, back in the car I program my phone, and it leads me back to the M20, and from there I know the way.
Lots of trucks and lorries also heading south, but I cruise past them. Its a fine day to be driving, the sun is breaking through the low cloud and mist, making for a pleasant drive.
I have also judged the fuel well, so don't need to refill before stopping at the car hire office.
They give it the once over, I tell them the things which are not working on te brand new car, they make notes, and I am done.
Emma drives me back to St Maggies, dropping me off on Station Road. I walk along to Chez Jelltex, check the garden for new flowers and growth, then go onside.
The cats sleep on, and I am overcome with weariness. MY knee is aching, I am out of painkillers, but massage it, nd its a little better.
I have brunch and a brew, listen to some podcasts, have a shower, unpack the suitcase.
Phew.
It now stays light until gone six, meaning we could have gone for a walk before dinner. But not at the moment. So I cook hash for dinner, which was ten minutes away from being done by the time Jools got home.
So we eat and drink wine.
One day and the weekend will be here.
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A chocolate-box church in a well-maintained churchyard. The nave is twelfth century in date, remodelled in the fourteenth century when the present roof was constructed. The chancel is also early but was reconstructed in the sixteenth century. A north aisle was added in 1890. The character of the church derives almost entirely from the nineteenth-and twentieth-century furnishings with which it is blessed. The rood screen is of the correct proportion and design and in the main dates from 1894 with minimal amounts of old woodwork. The wonderful figures on top are of 1908 and were designed by Sir Ninian Comper - the angels balance on their wheels like unicyclists! Comper also designed the wall paintings in the chancel, the altar, reredos and canopy. In the north aisle is an interesting collection of furnishings. There is a painted tile picture of Kemsing by the Kent artist Donald Maxwell, one of only a handful to survive. The central window is of two bishops and is typical of Comper's work, but it does not carry his usual signature of a strawberry plant. The west window of the north aisle is by Douglas Strachan, 1935, and is an excellent example of his angular figures. By the font is a bronze Arts and Crafts panel of the Virgin and Child by Henry Wilson, the famous turn-of-the-century designer who lived in a neighbouring village and whose work may also be found in the churchyard.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Kemsing
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KEMSING.
THE next parish eastward from Otford is KEMSING, called in the Testa de Nevil, CAMESING, and in the Textus Rossensis, CIMICINGA. (fn. 1) The name of this place seems to have been given to it from some royal camp or fortress, situated here.
THIS PARISH of Kemsing, from its situation, is not much known or frequented, nor is it a pleasant one. It lies partly in the valley and partly on the chalk hills, at a small distance southward from the foot of which the village is situated, at the intersection of the roads from Otford to Ightham, and from the chalk hills to the high road by Seal Chart. Near the centre of it is a water, called St. Edith's well, who was a famous female saint, said to have been born in this parish, and to have wrought many miracles for such as applied to her for relief. (fn. 2) The parish is about two miles square; the soil of it, in the northern part, is mostly chalk, in the southern very fertile, it has about one hundred acres of wood; in the eastern part of it is the seat of Crowdleham, situated near the boundary of the parish of Ightham.
There was a market antiently kept here on a Monday, by grant from king Henry III. which has been long since discontinued, and a fair, which is still kept on Easter Monday. (fn. 3) There was an old knightly family, who took their surname from this place, being called Kempsing, whose coat of arms was, Argent, a sess and chevron, interlaced sable, which was quartered by the Harts of Lullingstone, in right of Peche, who married the heir general of it. (fn. 4)
IN THE SCUTAGE, levied as well on the prelates as the rest of the barons, in the 32d of king Henry II. being the seventh of that reign, towards the expences of the army in Wales. The honour of Kemesing, as it is there called, then being in the king's hands, answered for twenty-nine shillings by the hands of the sheriff of the county. (fn. 5) Soon after which it came into the possession of the earl of Albermarle, who held it of Walter Fitzhelt, as he again did of the king in capite.
In the reign of king John, Baldwin de Betun, who, by favour of king Richard I. had enjoyed the earldom of Albermarle, in Hawis his wife's right, who was daughter land sole heir of William le Gross, earl of Albermarle, was owner of this place, and in the 5th year of that reign granted the lordships of Kemesing, Braborne, and Sutton, in this county, to William Mareschal, earl of Pembroke, with Alice, his sole daughter and heir, in frank marriage. (fn. 6)
In the reign of king John he attached himself closely to the rebellious barons, when his lands were seised on, as escheats to the crown; and this manor, then valued at thirty-six pounds per annum, as appears by the Testa de Nevil, was granted to Fulke de Brent; on the confiscation of whose estates, and the earl's return to his obedience, he again came into possession of it, which happened on the king's death, his father having persuaded him to return to his loyalty once more, and he had many favours conferred on him by king Henry III. in the 7th year of whose reign he had, for his good services against the Welsh, scutage of all his tenants in this and other counties. In the 10th year of that reign, his first wife being dead, he married Alianore, the king's sister, by which he greatly incurred his displeasure; but a reconciliation quickly after taking place, he was again taken into favour, and in the 14th year of that reign had a confirmation of the manors of Kemsing, Braborne, and Sutton, in this county, upon condition, that in case Alianore, his wife, survived him, she should enjoy them during life. (fn. 7) He died possessed of Kemsing in the 15th year of that reign without issue, and lies buried in the Temple church, having his effigies cross legged on his tomb; on which the sheriff of this county had the king's precept to make livery to Alianore, his widow, of those manors. She, after seven years widowhood, remarried Simon de Montford, earl of Leicester, and steward of England, in St. Stephen's chapel, Westminster, the king giving her away with his own hand.
In the 45th year of that reign, the earl of Leicester, heading the discontented barons against the king, continued with them till the battle of Evesham, in the 49th year of it, in which the earl was killed; after whose death, the countess Alianore and her children were forced to forsake England, and she died some time afterwards in the nunnery of Montarges, in France.
In the mean time the four brothers of William earl of Pembroke, successively earls of Pembroke, being dead without issue, their inheritance became divided between the heirs of their five sisters and coheirs; and upon the partition of their interest in the manor of Kemsing, it seems to have become the sole property of Roger, eldest son of Maud the eldest sister, by her husband, Hugh Bigod, earl of Norfolk, (fn. 8) though the time of his coming into the possession of it. I do not find, as Alianore, second wife of William earl of Pembroke, was then living, who was entitled to it for her life.
Roger earl of Norfolk, and marshal of England, who bore for his arms, Per pale or and vert, a lion rampant gules, died of a bruise, which he received at a tour nament, about the 54th of Henry III.'s reign, leaving no issue by Isabel his wife, daughter of William king of Scots; upon which he was succeeded, as earl of Norfolk and marshal of the king's palace, as well as in the possession of this manor, by Roger his nephew, son of Hugh his brother, chief justice of England, (fn. 9) who, in the 7th of king Edward I. claimed, before the justices itinerant, large privileges for this manor; (fn. 10) and afterwards, in the 11th year of that reign, sold it, together with the advowson of this church, to Otho de Grandison, descended of a family, who were of the dukedom of Burgundy, in France, their residence there being called Grandison castle, a man of great account with that prince, who employed him much, and conferred many favours on him.
In the 18th year of that reign, he obtained free warren for all his demesne lands in Kemsing, (fn. 11) and having had summons to parliament among the barons of this realm, he departed this life without issue, leaving William de Grandison, his brother, his next heir; who died possessed of this manor, leaving by his wife, Sibilla, youngest daughter, and one of the coheirs of John de Tregoze, three sons; Peter de Grandison, his eldest son and heir, who, as well as his father, had summons to parliament; John bishop of Exeter; and Otho; and four daughters. (fn. 12)
On his death this manor became the property of Otho, the youngest son, who paid aid for it, in the 20th of king Edward III. as half a knight's fee, which William de Grandison before held in Kemsing of the earl of Leicester. He died possessed of this manor in the 33d year of that reign, (fn. 13) leaving by Beatrix his wife, daughter and coheir of Nicholas Malmains, one son and heir, Thomas, and a daughter, Elizabeth.
Thomas de Grandison, being of full age, had possession granted of this manor, among others; he was afterwards knighted, and died possessed of it in the 50th year of king Edward III. without issue, leaving Margaret his wife surviving, who likewise possessed it at her decease, in the 18th year of king Richard II. After which it came to Sir William de Bryene, or Bryan, who died possessed of it in the 19th year of the same reign, and lies buried in Seale church.
After his death, Sir William Fynes (whose name was originally spelt Fiennes, but about this time came to be written both Fynes and Fenys) became possessed of it, bearing for his arms, Azure, three lions rampant or. He was son of William Fiennes and Joane his wife, third sister and coheir of William de Say; and by Elizabeth his wife, daughter and heir of William Batisford, left issue two sons, Roger and James; from the former of which were descended the several lords Dacre of the south; and from the latter, the viscounts Say and Seale, both which titles are now extinct, (fn. 14) and the present lord Say and Sele.
James, the second son, above mentioned, possessed this manor, and in the 14th of king Henry, VI. was sheriff of this county, and soon afterwards made esquire of the body to that king. In the 24th year of whose reign, being then a knight, he was, by reason that Joane his grandmother was third sister and coheir of William de Say, by a special writ, on March 3d, next year, summoned to Parliament by the title of lord Say and Sele; (fn. 15) and two days afterwards, in consideration of his eminent services, he was, in open parliament, advanced to the dignity of a baron of this realm, by the above title, to him and his heirs male, and in the 27th year of that reign, he had a full confirmation and release of that title from John, lord Clinton, and of the arms of Say, which, on account of his descent from Idonea, the eldest sister of William de Say, might belong to him. In consideration of which he then granted to the lord Clinton, all advowsons of churches, knights fees, &c. which belonged to the latter, by reason of the lordship of Say. (fn. 16)
After which he obtained a grant of the office of constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, to him and his heirs male; was made lord chamberlain, and one of the king's council, and next year lord treasurer of England.
This rise to so high a pitch of honour, increased the hatred of the commons towards him, and served but to make his fall the more sudden and unhappy, for next year they accused him and others in the parliament held at St. Edmunds Bury, of treason, for having ing assented to the release of Anjou, and the delivery of Maine to the French; upon which the king, to appease them, sequestered him from his office of treasurer, and shortly after, on the insurrection of the Kentish men, under Jack Cade, observing their clamour against him, to mitigate it, he committed him prisoner to the tower; shortly after which, this riotous mob entering London, and finding their numbers increase, fetched him thence to Guildhall, and there arraigned him before the lord-mayor, and other the king's justices, notwithstanding his request to be tried by his peers; after which hurrying him to the standard in Cheapside, they cut off his head there, and carried it about on a pole, causing his naked body to be drawn at a horse's tail into Southwark, and there hanged and quartered, though his body was afterwards buried in the church of the Grey Friars, London. (fn. 17)
He left issue, by Emeline Cromer his wife, one son and heir, Sir William Fienes, who was that year, by special writ, summoned to parliament, being seized of an estate tail of the office of constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, by virtue of the patent above-mentioned, to James, his father, his interest in which he soon afterwards sold to Humphry, duke of Buckingham, and his heirs male.
The unhappy contention subsisting at that time between the houses of York and Lancaster for the throne, in which he risqued not only his person, but his whole fortune, brought him into great distresses, and necessitated him to mortgage, and fell the greatest part of his lands. (fn. 18) He married Margaret the daughter and heir of William Wickham, great-grandson of Agnes, sister to William of Wickham, founder of New College, Oxford. The lands of the lord Say being thus alienated the barony lay dormant, and the heirs male of the family were only called Fienes. Henry, his son and heir, though he used the title of lord Say, had never summons to parliament, and it remained unclaimed till the year 1733, when it was claimed by John Twisleton, esq. of Broughton, in Oxfordshire, descended by the female line from the above Sir William Fienes, lord Say and Sele, which claim, though it then failed, was renewed by his son Thomas, who was summoned to parliament as lord Say and Sele, in 1781, and was father to the present Gregory, lord Say and Sele. In the second year of king Edward IV. Sir William Fienes, lord Say and Sele, mentioned above, sold this manor of Kemsing to Sir Geoffry Bulleyn, (fn. 19) a wealthy mercer of London, who had been lord mayor in the 37th year of king Henry VI. whose grandson Thomas, was sheriff of this county in the 3d and 9th years of Henry VIII. and became a man of great note in that reign; for the king in his 3d year made him one of the knights of his body, and afterwards embassador several times to the emperor, and the kings of France and Spain, and in the 17th year of his reign, on account of the great affection which he bore to the lady Anne Bulleyn, his daughter, advanced him to the title of viscount Rochford; and in his 21st year, created him, being then knight of the garter, earl of Wiltshire and Ormond, and made him lord privy seal. (fn. 20) He died in the 30th year of king Henry VIII. possessed of this manor, have ing had by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk, one son, George, executed in his life-time, and two daughters; Anne, wife to king Henry VIII. and Mary, wife of William Carey, esq. of the king's body, and ancestor of the lords Hunsdon, and of the earls of Dover and Monmouth.
George Bulleyn, the son above-mentioned, bearing the title of viscount Rochford in his father's life-time, was, in the 26th year of that reign, made constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, and was much favored by that king, till the time of his change of affection from queen Anne Bulleyn; when the king, to make the path more easy towards the enjoyment of his new passion, in a sudden and unexpected gust of anger, in his 28th year, committed him to the tower, a few days after which, he was arraigned and beheaded, having had no issue, and was buried in St. Peter's chapel in the tower. (fn. 21)
On the death of the earl of Wiltshire without male issue, the king seized on this manor, in right of his late wife, the unfortunate Anne Bulleyn, the earl's elder daughter; and it remained in his hands till the 32d year of his reign, when by his indenture that year, reciting, that as the most noble lady, Anne of Cleves, daugh ter of John, late duke of Cleve, &c. came into his realm of England, on a certain treaty of marriage between himself and the said lady Anne; which marriage, although celebrated in the face of the church, yet was never consummated, for the conditions of it were never performed in due time, and there being other great and important causes, on account of which the convocation of the realm, with assent of the parties, and of the parliament, had declared the marriage to be invalid, there being no prospect of any children from it, notwithstanding which, the said lady was contented to conform to the laws of the realm, and to free herself and her conscience of the said marriage, and to remain at liberty within the realm; therefore the king, considering her high birth and nobility, of his especial grace and favour, granted her, for the maintenance of her noble estate, among other premises, his manors of Hever, Seale, and Kemsing, and his park of Hever, with all their rights, members, and appurtenances, late belonging to Thomas, earl of Wiltshire, deceased, and then in the king's hands; and all messuages, lands and hereditaments whatsoever, in Hever, Seale, and Kemsing, lately purchased by the king of Sir James Bulleyn, and William Bulleyn, clerk, to hold to her during life, so long as she should stay within the realm of England, and not depart out of it, without the licence of the king and his successors, and the king granted the premises free and discharged of all outgoings, rents, pensions, &c. except among others of forty shillings, issuing yearly out of the lands of John Tybolde, called Seale Park. (fn. 22)
¶The lady Ann of Cleves died possessed of these manors and estates in the 4th and 5th year of king Philip and queen Mary, when they reverted again to the crown; where the manors of Seale and Kemsing, and the other premises in those parishes, lay till queen Elizabeth, in her first year, granted them to her kinsman, Sir Henry Carey, whom she had advanced that year to the title of lord Hunsdon, baron of Hunsdon, in Hertfordshire, to hold in capite by knights service. (fn. 23) He was descended of an antient family, seated at Cockington, in Devonshire; one of whom was Sir Robert Carey, who in the beginning of king Henry V's reign, acquired great renown by his encountering and overcoming an Arragonian knight, who had performed many notable feats of arms in different countries, and then came to make trial of his prowess here in England, in a long and doubtful combat in Smithfield; for which he was by the king knighted, and restored to part of his father's inheritance, which had been forfeited. From which time he bore, as by the law of arms he might, the coat armour of the vanquished knight, viz. Argent, on a bend sable, three roses of the field barbed and seeded proper; the present bearing of this family: their antient bearing before this being, Gules, a chevron argent between three swans proper; one of which they still retain for their crest. His son was William Carey, who being in the battle of Tewksbury, in the 10th year of king Edward IV. on the part of the Lancastrians, upon the loss of that day, was taken prisoner, and notwithstanding he was promised a pardon, lost his head.
Kemsing is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Rochester, and deanry of Malling.
The church stands on the north side of the village, and is dedicated to St. Edith, whose image, set up in this church-yard, was greatly frequented for the singular benefits she daily dispensed in preserving corn and grain from blasting, mill-dew, and other harm incident to it. (fn. 32) It is a small church, consisting of only one isle and a chancel, having a pointed steeple at the west end, in which are two bells. There are but few monuments or inscriptions in it, in the chancel there is a grave-stone, with the figure of a man, and an inscription in brass in black letter, for Thomas de Hop, and at the east end a mural monument for Michael Jermin, D. D. obt. August 14, 1659, æt. 70. (fn. 33)
In the year 1397, anno 21 king Richard II. the king granted licence to Guy Mone, to give the advowson of the church of Kemsing to the prior and convent of Bermondsey for ever. (fn. 34) In which year they obtained the pope's bull, (fn. 35) to appropriate it with the chapel of Seale annexed to it, to the use and support of their convent; reserving, nevertheless, out of the fruits, rents, and profits of the church and chapel, for a perpetual vicar to be instituted in it by the ordinary, a fit portion, by which he might be maintained, the episcopal dues be paid, and other burthens incumbent on him might be conveniently borne. (fn. 36)
In consequence of which, John (de Bottlesham) bishop of Rochester, by his instrument, dated Oct. 12, anno 1402, (fn. 37) with the consent of the abbot and convent of Bermondesey, endowed the vicarage of this church as follows:
First, he decreed, that there should be a perpetual vicarage, to be held and possessed as a perpetual ecclesiastical benefice in the church of Kemsing, which he endowed out of the fruits, rents, and profits of the said church and the chapel of Seale; the vicar of which, who should be intitled to it, by the abbot and convent, proprietaries of this church, should be from time to time presented to the bishop and his successors, and inducted by the archdeacon; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent, and their successors, proprietaries of it, in right of the same, should take, have, and freely enjoy, all and every kind of great tythes, viz. of corn, of whatsoever sort it be, and of hay, growing within the bounds and limits, or titheable places of the church and chapel, the tithe of the grange or field of Budirevere within this parish only excepted; and he ordained, that the repair of the chancel of the church, in the walls, glass windows, and roof, and also the paying of all papal and royal tenths and procurations, and the procurations of legates of the apostolic see, of archbishops, bishops, and archdeacons, (the bishop and his church of Rochester being always saved harmless, on account of this appropriation) should belong to the abbot and convent, and their successors, to be paid and performed at their costs and expences; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent, and their successors, should cause forty pence in money, or meat and drink of as much value, to be yearly distributed to, and bestowed on, the poor, and more indigent parishioners of the church of Kemsing, towards their relief and support, out of the profits of the church; and he ordained, that the tithes of the food of all animals, and of pidgeons, and other titheable matters accruing within the rectory, and the straw of the church and chapel, so long as the rectory should remain in the hands of the abbot and convent, and be in no wife let to ferm, should belong to them, as proprietaries of the parish church; but if the same should be let to ferm, then he ordained, that the tithes of the food of animals, &c. as above-mentioned, should belong to the vicar of the vicarage of the same, for the time being, for ever, with this exception however, that if the abbot and convent should let to ferm any of their stock, with the rectory, no tithe should be taken of that stock; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent should cause to be built at their costs and expences, for that time only, a competent dwelling on a part of the glebe and soil of the rectory allotted for that purpose, in which he ordained, that the vicar for the time being should reside; and he ordained, that the portion of the vicar should be as follows: that he should take and have all oblations and obventions of the altar, as well in the parish church of Kemsing, as in the chapel of Seale, and the small tythes, of what kind or nature soever they be, accruing within the parish of the said church and chapel, and the titheable places of the same, and also all great and small tithes whatsoever, in and of the grange or field called Budyrevere, within the bounds and limits of the parish of the church of Kemsing; and he ordained, that the vicar for the time being should have the cure of all and singular the parishioners of the said church and chapel, and that he should find, at his own costs and expences, a proper chaplain to celebrate divine offices in the said chapel, and duly administer the sacraments and ecclesiastical sacramentals in the same, and also the bread, wine, and lights, necessary and accustomed at the celebrating divine offices in the said church and chapel; and, lastly, he pronounced and declared, that the above was a sufficient and competent portion for the vicar, and such as from it he would be able to support himself, to keep hospitality, and conveniently support the burthens incumbent on him. Which endowment was confirmed by the abbot and convent the day after, under their common seal. (fn. 38)
The above appropriation and endowment was confirmed by John Langdon, bishop of Rochester, in 1422, who further ordained, with the consent of the abbot and convent, that no future vicar might have any cause to complain, that he should receive yearly, from the abbot and convent, fourteen shillings of English money, beyond the portion before assigned to him as before-mentioned; and it was then agreed between the bishop and the abbot and convent, that the bishop should receive in future, out of the fruits and profits of the said church and chapel, 6s. 8d. yearly of English money, as an indemnity to the church of Rochester for any injury it might have received, by reason of the appropriation of this church and chapel.
All which was confirmed by the abbot and convent, under their common seal, the day and year abovementioned. (fn. 39)
On the dissolution of the monastery of St. Saviour's, Bermondesey, which happened in the 29th year of king Henry VIII. this church, with the chapel of Seale annexed was surrendered, among the rest of the possessions of that house, into the king's hands, and became part of the possessions of the crown, after which queen Elizabeth granted this rectory to Sir Peter Manwood; in king Charles I's reign, it was in the possession of James Bunce, esq. whose descendant, James Bunce, esq. of Crowdleham, in this parish, is the present owner of it.
But the advowson of the vicarage seems to have been granted, with the manor of Kemsing, to Henry Carey, lord Hunsdon, since which it has continued unalienated, for many generations, the property of the earls and dukes of Dorset, and is now in the possession of his grace John Frederick duke of Dorset.
In the 15th year of king Edward I. this church was valued at fifteen marcs. (fn. 40)
¶By virtue of the commission of enquiry into the value of church livings, in 1650, issuing out of chancery, it was returned, that here was a parsonage and vicarage; the parsonage tithes being about forty pounds per annum, and the glebe land thereunto belonging, worth ten pounds, master Bunce being patron, but it was then sequestered, and that the vicarage, tythes, and house, were worth one hundred pounds per annum; that there was issuing out of the parsonage to the vicar, by composition from the abbot, two pounds per annum, and by the will of master Bunce six pounds per annum, in all eighteen pounds, master Barton then incumbent. (fn. 41)
This vicarage, with Seale annexed, is valued in the king's books at 19l. 13s. 4d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 9s. 4d.
www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol3/pp32-50
Rome Villa Torlonia: There are two granite obelisks standing in the grounds of the villa. They were commissioned by Prince Alessandro Torlonia (1800-80), in memory of his parents and erected in 1842. Each obelisk bears a dedication in Egyptian hieroglyphs. Latin translations are supplied on the pedestals. The erection of the first obelisk, which was dedicated to his father Prince Giovanni Torlonia, took place in front of a huge crowd of onlookers, which included such dignitaries as Pope Gregory XVI (r. 1833-46) and King Ludwig I of Bavaria.
Russian Federation, Architecture of Holy Moscow, Bell Clock tower of Church of Saint Gregory of Neocaesarea in Polyanka since 1679, Bolshaya Polyanka street, Yakimanka district. Православнаѧ Црковь. traveladventureeverywhere.blogspot.com/2020/08/holy-mosco...
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ALBANIA
Albanian Trilogy: A Series of Devious Stratagems
Armando Lulaj
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture. Curator: Marco Scotini. Deputy Curator: Andris Brinkmanis. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale
ANDORRA
Inner Landscapes
Roqué, Joan Xandri
Commissioner: Henry Périer. Deputy Commissioner: Joana Baygual, Sebastià Petit, Francesc Rodríguez
Curator: Paolo de Grandis, Josep M. Ubach. Venue: Spiazzi, Castello 3865
ANGOLA
On Ways of Travelling
António Ole, Binelde Hyrcan, Délio Jasse, Francisco Vidal, Nelo Teixeira
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture, Rita Guedes Tavares. Curator: António Ole. Deputy Curator: Antonia Gaeta. Venue: Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello - Palazzo Pisani, San Marco 2810
ARGENTINA
The Uprising of Form
Juan Carlos Diste´fano
Commissioner: Magdalena Faillace. Curator: Mari´a Teresa Constantin. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Sale d’Armi
ARMENIA, Republic of
Armenity / Haiyutioun
Haig Aivazian, Lebanon; Nigol Bezjian, Syria/USA; Anna Boghiguian Egypt/Canada; Hera Büyüktasçiyan, Turkey; Silvina Der-Meguerditchian, Argentina/Germany; Rene Gabri & Ayreen Anastas, Iran/Palestine/USA; Mekhitar Garabedian, Belgium; Aikaterini Gegisian, Greece; Yervant Gianikian & Angela Ricci Lucchi, Italy; Aram Jibilian, USA; Nina Katchadourian, USA/Finland; Melik Ohanian, France; Mikayel Ohanjanyan, Armenia/Italy; Rosana Palazyan, Brazil; Sarkis, Turkey/France; Hrair Sarkissian, Syria/UK
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia. Deputy Commissioner: Art for the World, Mekhitarist Congregation of San Lazzaro Island, Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in Italy, Vartan Karapetian. Curator: Adelina Cüberyan von Fürstenberg. Venue: Monastery and Island of San Lazzaro degli Armeni
AUSTRALIA
Fiona Hall: Wrong Way Time
Fiona Hall
Commissioner: Simon Mordant AM. Deputy Commissioner: Charles Green. Curator: Linda Michael. Scientific Committee: Simon Mordant AM, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Max Delany, Rachel Kent, Danie Mellor, Suhanya Raffel, Leigh Robb. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
AUSTRIA
Heimo Zobernig
Commissioner: Yilmaz Dziewior. Curator: Yilmaz Dziewior. Scientific Committee: Friends of the Venice Biennale. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
AZERBAIJAN, Republic of
Beyond the Line
Ashraf Murad, Javad Mirjavadov, Tofik Javadov, Rasim Babayev, Fazil Najafov, Huseyn Hagverdi, Shamil Najafzada
Commissioner: Heydar Aliyev Foundation. Curators: de Pury de Pury, Emin Mammadov. Venue: Palazzo Lezze, Campo S.Stefano, San Marco 2949
Vita Vitale
Edward Burtynsky, Mircea Cantor, Loris Cecchini, Gordon Cheung, Khalil Chishtee, Tony Cragg, Laura Ford, Noemie Goudal, Siobhán Hapaska, Paul Huxley, IDEA laboratory and Leyla Aliyeva, Chris Jordan with Rebecca Clark and Helena S.Eitel, Tania Kovats, Aida Mahmudova, Sayyora Muin, Jacco Olivier, Julian Opie, Julian Perry, Mike Perry, Bas Princen, Stephanie Quayle, Ugo Rondinone, Graham Stevens, Diana Thater, Andy Warhol, Bill Woodrow, Erwin Wurm, Rose Wylie
Commissioner: Heydar Aliyev Foundation. Curators: Artwise: Susie Allen, Laura Culpan, Dea Vanagan. Venue: Ca’ Garzoni, San Marco 3416
BELARUS, Republic of
War Witness Archive
Konstantin Selikhanov
Commissioner: Natallia Sharanhovich. Deputy Commissioners: Alena Vasileuskaya, Kamilia Yanushkevich. Curators: Aleksei Shinkarenko, Olga Rybchinskaya. Scientific Committee: Dmitry Korol, Daria Amelkovich, Julia Kondratyuk, Sergei Jeihala, Sheena Macfarlane, Yuliya Heisik, Hanna Samarskaya, Taras Kaliahin, Aliaksandr Stasevich. Venue: Riva San Biagio, Castello 2145
BELGIUM
Personnes et les autres
Vincent Meessen and Guests, Mathieu K. Abonnenc, Sammy Baloji, James Beckett, Elisabetta Benassi, Patrick Bernier & Olive Martin, Tamar Guimara~es & Kasper Akhøj, Maryam Jafri, Adam Pendleton
Commissioner: Wallonia-Brussels Federation and Wallonia-Brussels International. Curator: Katerina Gregos. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
COSTA RICA
"Costa Rica, Paese di pace, invita a un linguaggio universale d'intesa tra i popoli".
Andrea Prandi, Beatrice Gallori, Beth Parin, Biagio Schembari, Carla Castaldo, Celestina Avanzini, Cesare Berlingeri, Erminio Tansini, Fabio Capitanio, Fausto Beretti, Giovan Battista Pedrazzini, Giovanni Lamberti, Giovanni Tenga, Iana Zanoskar, Jim Prescott, Leonardo Beccegato, Liliana Scocco, Lucia Bolzano, Marcela Vicuna, Marco Bellagamba, Marco Lodola, Maria Gioia dell’Aglio, Mario Bernardinello, Massimo Meucci, Nacha Piattini, Omar Ronda, Renzo Eusebi, Tita Patti, Romina Power, Rubens Fogacci, Silvio di Pietro, Stefano Sichel, Tino Stefanoni, Ufemia Ritz, Ugo Borlenghi, Umberto Mariani, Venere Chillemi, Jacqueline Gallicot Madar, Massimo Onnis, Fedora Spinelli
Commissioner: Ileana Ordonez Chacon. Curator: Gregorio Rossi. Venue: Palazzo Bollani
CROATIA
Studies on Shivering: The Third Degree
Damir Ocko
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture. Curator: Marc Bembekoff. Venue: Palazzo Pisani, S. Marina
CUBA
El artista entre la individualidad y el contexto
Lida Abdul, Celia-Yunior, Grethell Rasúa, Giuseppe Stampone, LinYilin, Luis Edgardo Gómez Armenteros, Olga Chernysheva, Susana Pilar Delahante Matienzo
Commissioner: Miria Vicini. Curators: Jorge Fernández Torres, Giacomo Zaza. Venue: San Servolo Island
CYPRUS, Republic of
Two Days After Forever
Christodoulos Panayiotou
Commissioner: Louli Michaelidou. Deputy Commissioner: Angela Skordi. Curator: Omar Kholeif. Deputy Curator: Daniella Rose King. Venue: Palazzo Malipiero, Sestiere San Marco 3079
CZECH Republic and SLOVAK Republic
Apotheosis
Jirí David
Commissioner: Adam Budak. Deputy Commissioner: Barbara Holomkova. Curator: Katarina Rusnakova. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
ECUADOR
Gold Water: Apocalyptic Black Mirrors
Maria Veronica Leon Veintemilla in collaboration with Lucia Vallarino Peet
Commissioner: Andrea Gonzàlez Sanchez. Deputy Commissioner: PDG Arte Communications. Curator: Ileana Cornea. Deputy Curator: Maria Veronica Leon Veintemilla. Venue: Istituto Santa Maria della Pietà, Castello 3701
ESTONIA
NSFW. From the Abyss of History
Jaanus Samma
Commissioner: Maria Arusoo. Curator: Eugenio Viola. Venue: Palazzo Malipiero, campo San Samuele, San Marco 3199
EGYPT
CAN YOU SEE
Ahmed Abdel Fatah, Gamal Elkheshen, Maher Dawoud
Commissioner: Hany Al Ashkar. Curator: Ministry of Culture. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
FINLAND (Pavilion Alvar Aalto)
Hours, Years, Aeons
IC-98
Commissioner: Frame Visual Art Finland, Raija Koli. Curator: Taru Elfving. Deputy Curator: Anna Virtanen. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
FRANCE
revolutions
Céleste Boursier-Mougenot
Commissioner: Institut français, with Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication. Curator: Emma Lavigne. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
GEORGIA
Crawling Border
Rusudan Gobejishvili Khizanishvili, Irakli Bluishvili, Dimitri Chikvaidze, Joseph Sabia
Commissioner: Ana Riaboshenko. Curator: Nia Mgaloblishvili. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Sale d’Armi
GERMANY
Fabrik
Jasmina Metwaly / Philip Rizk, Olaf Nicolai, Hito Steyerl, Tobias Zielony
Commissioner: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen) on behalf of the Federal Foreign Office. Deputy Commissioner: Elke aus dem Moore, Nina Hülsmeier. Curator: Florian Ebner. Deputy Curator: Tanja Milewsky, Ilina Koralova. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
GREAT BRITAIN
Sarah Lucas
Commissioner: Emma Dexter. Curator: Richard Riley. Deputy Curator: Katrina Schwarz. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
GRENADA *
Present Nearness
Oliver Benoit, Maria McClafferty, Asher Mains, Francesco Bosso and Carmine Ciccarini, Guiseppe Linardi
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture. Deputy Commissioner: Susan Mains. Curator: Susan Mains. Deputy Curator: Francesco Elisei. Venue: Opera don Orione Artigianelli, Sala Tiziano, Fondamenta delle Zattere ai Gesuati, Dorsoduro 919
GREECE
Why Look at Animals? AGRIMIKÁ.
Maria Papadimitriou
Commissioner: Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Education and Religious Affairs. Curator: Gabi Scardi. Deputy Curator: Alexios Papazacharias. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
BRAZIL
So much that it doesn't fit here
Antonio Manuel, André Komatsu, Berna Reale
Commissioner: Luis Terepins. Curator: Luiz Camillo Osorio. Deputy Curator: Cauê Alves. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
CANADA
Canadassimo
BGL
Commissioner: National Gallery of Canada, Marc Mayer. Deputy Commissioner: National Gallery of Canada, Yves Théoret. Curator: Marie Fraser. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
CHILE
Poéticas de la disidencia | Poetics of dissent: Paz Errázuriz - Lotty Rosenfeld
Paz Errázuriz, Lotty Rosenfeld
Commissioner: Antonio Arèvalo. Deputy Commissioner: Juan Pablo Vergara Undurraga. Curator: Nelly Richard. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale - Artiglierie
CHINA, People’s Republic of
Other Future
LIU Jiakun, LU Yang, TAN Dun, WEN Hui/Living Dance Studio, WU Wenguang/Caochangdi Work Station
Commissioner: China Arts and Entertainment Group, CAEG. Deputy Commissioners: Zhang Yu, Yan Dong. Curator: Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation. Scientific Committee: Fan Di’an, Zhang Zikang, Zhu Di, Gao Shiming, Zhu Qingsheng, Pu Tong, Shang Hui. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Giardino delle Vergini
GUATEMALA
Sweet Death
Emma Anticoli Borza, Sabrina Bertolelli, Mariadolores Castellanos, Max Leiva, Pier Domenico Magri, Adriana Montalto, Elmar Rojas (Elmar René Rojas Azurdia), Paolo Schmidlin, Mónica Serra, Elsie Wunderlich, Collettivo La Grande Bouffe
Commissioner: Daniele Radini Tedeschi. Curators: Stefania Pieralice, Carlo Marraffa, Elsie Wunderlich. Deputy Curators: Luciano Carini, Simone Pieralice. Venue: Officina delle Zattere, Dorsoduro 947, Fondamenta Nani
HOLY SEE
Commissioner: Em.mo Card. Gianfranco Ravasi, Presidente del Pontificio Consiglio della Cultura. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Sale d’Armi
HUNGARY
Sustainable Identities
Szilárd Cseke
Commissioner: Monika Balatoni. Deputy Commissioner: István Puskás, Sándor Fodor, Anna Karády. Curator: Kinga German. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
ICELAND
Christoph Büchel
Commissioner: Björg Stefánsdóttir. Curator: Nína Magnúsdóttir. Venue: to be confirmed
INDONESIA, Republic of
Komodo Voyage
Heri Dono
Commissioner: Sapta Nirwandar. Deputy Commissioner: Soedarmadji JH Damais. Curator: Carla Bianpoen, Restu Imansari Kusumaningrum. Scientific Committee: Franco Laera, Asmudjo Jono Irianto, Watie Moerany, Elisabetta di Mambro. Venue: Venue: Arsenale
IRAN
Iranian Highlights
Samira Alikhanzaradeh, Mahmoud Bakhshi Moakhar, Jamshid Bayrami, Mohammed Ehsai
The Great Game
Lida Abdul, Bani Abidi, Adel Abidin, Amin Agheai, Ghodratollah Agheli, Shahriar Ahmadi, Parastou Ahovan, Farhad Ahrarnia, Rashad Alakbarov, Nazgol Ansarinia, Reza Aramesh, Alireza Astaneh, Sonia Balassanian, Mahmoud Bakhshi, Moakhar Wafaa Bilal, Mehdi Farhadian, Monir Farmanfarmaian, Shadi Ghadirian, Babak Golkar, Shilpa Gupta, Ghasem Hajizadeh, Shamsia Hassani, Sahand Hesamiyan, Sitara Ibrahimova, Pouran Jinchi, Amar Kanwar, Babak Kazemi, Ryas Komu, Ahmad Morshedloo, Farhad Moshiri, Mehrdad Mohebali, Huma Mulji, Azad Nanakeli, Jamal Penjweny, Imran Qureshi, Sara Rahbar, Rashid Rana, T.V. Santhosh, Walid Siti, Mohsen Taasha Wahidi, Mitra Tabrizian, Parviz Tanavoli, Newsha Tavakolian, Sadegh Tirafkan, Hema Upadhyay, Saira Wasim
Commissioner: Majid Mollanooruzi. Deputy Commissioners: Marco Meneguzzo, Mazdak Faiznia. Curators: Marco Meneguzzo, Mazdak Faiznia. Venue: Calle San Giovanni 1074/B, Cannaregio
IRAQ
Commissioner: Ruya Foundation for Contemporary Culture in Iraq (RUYA). Deputy Commissioner: Nuova Icona - Associazione Culturale per le Arti. Curator: Philippe Van Cauteren. Venue: Ca' Dandolo, San Polo 2879
IRELAND
Adventure: Capital
Sean Lynch
Commissioner: Mike Fitzpatrick. Curator: Woodrow Kernohan. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale - Artiglierie
ISRAEL
Tsibi Geva | Archeology of the Present
Tsibi Geva
Commissioner: Arad Turgem, Michael Gov. Curator: Hadas Maor. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
ITALY
Ministero dei Beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo - Direzione Generale Arte e Architettura Contemporanee e Periferie Urbane. Commissioner: Federica Galloni. Curator: Vincenzo Trione. Venue: Padiglione Italia, Tese delle Vergini at Arsenale
JAPAN
The Key in the Hand
Chiharu Shiota
Commissioner: The Japan Foundation. Deputy Commissioner: Yukihiro Ohira, Manako Kawata and Haruka Nakajima. Curator: Hitoshi Nakano. Venue : Pavilion at Giardini
KENYA
Creating Identities
Yvonne Apiyo Braendle-Amolo, Qin Feng, Shi Jinsong, Armando Tanzini, Li Zhanyang, Lan Zheng Hui, Li Gang, Double Fly Art Center
Commissioner: Paola Poponi. Curator: Sandro Orlandi Stagl. Deputy Curator: Ding Xuefeng. Venue: San Servolo Island
KOREA, Republic of
The Ways of Folding Space & Flying
MOON Kyungwon & JEON Joonho
Commissioner: Sook-Kyung Lee. Curator: Sook-Kyung Lee. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
KOSOVO, Republic of
Speculating on the blue
Flaka Haliti
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports. Curator: Nicolaus Schafhausen. Deputy Curator: Katharina Schendl. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale - Artiglierie
LATVIA
Armpit
Katrina Neiburga, Andris Eglitis
Commissioner: Solvita Krese (Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art). Deputy Commissioner: Kitija Vasiljeva. Curator: Kaspars Vanags. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale
LITHUANIA
Museum
Dainius Liškevicius
Commissioner: Vytautas Michelkevicius. Deputy Commissioner: Rasa Antanaviciute. Curator: Vytautas Michelkevicius. Venue: Palazzo Zenobio, Fondamenta del Soccorso 2569, Dorsoduro
LUXEMBOURG, Grand Duchy of
Paradiso Lussemburgo
Filip Markiewicz
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture. Deputy Commissioner: MUDAM Luxembourg. Curator: Paul Ardenne. Venue: Cà Del Duca, Corte del Duca Sforza, San Marco 3052
MACEDONIA, Former Yugoslavian Republic of
We are all in this alone
Hristina Ivanoska and Yane Calovski
Commissioner: Maja Nedelkoska Brzanova, National Gallery of Macedonia. Deputy Commissioner: Olivija Stoilkova. Curator: Basak Senova. Deputy Curator: Maja Cankulovska Mihajlovska. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale - Sale d’Armi
MAURITIUS *
From One Citizen You Gather an Idea
Sultana Haukim, Nirmal Hurry, Alix Le Juge, Olga Jürgenson, Helge Leiberg, Krishna Luchoomun, Neermala Luckeenarain, Kavinash Thomoo, Bik Van Der Pol, Laure Prouvost, Vitaly Pushnitsky, Römer + Römer
Commissioner: pARTage. Curators: Alfredo Cramerotti, Olga Jürgenson. Venue: Palazzo Flangini - Canareggio 252
MEXICO
Possesing Nature
Tania Candiani, Luis Felipe Ortega
Commissioner: Tomaso Radaelli. Deputy Commissioner: Magdalena Zavala Bonachea. Curator: Karla Jasso. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Sale d’Armi
MONGOLIA *
Other Home
Enkhbold Togmidshiirev, Unen Enkh
Commissioner: Gantuya Badamgarav, MCASA. Curator: Uranchimeg Tsultemin. Scientific Committee: David A Ross, Boldbaatar Chultemin. Venue: European Cultural Centre - Palazzo Mora
MONTENEGRO
,,Ti ricordi Sjecaš li se You Remember "
Aleksandar Duravcevic
Commissioner/Curator: Anastazija Miranovic. Deputy Commissioner: Danica Bogojevic. Venue: Palazzo Malipiero (piano terra), San Marco 3078-3079/A, Ramo Malipiero
MOZAMBIQUE, Republic of *
Theme: Coexistence of Tradition and Modernity in Contemporary Mozambique
Mozambique Artists
Commissioner: Joel Matias Libombo. Deputy Commissioner: Gilberto Paulino Cossa. Curator: Comissariado-Geral para a Expo Milano 2015. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale
NETHERLANDS, The
herman de vries - to be all ways to be
herman de vries
Commissioner: Mondriaan Fund. Curators: Colin Huizing, Cees de Boer. Venue: Pavilion ar Giardini
NEW ZEALAND
Secret Power
Simon Denny
Commissioner: Heather Galbraith. Curator: Robert Leonard. Venue: Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Marco Polo Airport
NORDIC PAVILION (NORWAY)
Camille Norment
Commissioner: OCA, Office for Contemporary Art Norway. Curator: Katya García-Antón. Deputy Curator: Antonio Cataldo. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
PERU
Misplaced Ruins
Gilda Mantilla and Raimond Chaves
Commissioner: Armando Andrade de Lucio. Curator: Max Hernández-Calvo. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Sale d’Armi
PHILIPPINES
Tie a String Around the World
Manuel Conde, Carlos Francisco, Manny Montelibano, Jose Tence Ruiz
Commissioner: National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), Felipe M. de Leon Jr. Curator: Patrick D. Flores. Venue: European Cultural Centre - Palazzo Mora
POLAND
Halka/Haiti. 18°48’05”N 72°23’01”W
C.T. Jasper, Joanna Malinowska
Commissioner: Hanna Wróblewska. Deputy Commissioner: Joanna Wasko. Curator: Magdalena Moskalewicz. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
PORTUGAL
I Will Be Your Mirror / poems and problems
João Louro
Commissioner/Curator: María de Corral. Venue: Palazzo Loredan, campo S. Stefano
ROMANIA
Adrian Ghenie: Darwin’s Room
Adrian Ghenie
Commissioner: Monica Morariu. Deputy Commissioner: Alexandru Damian. Curator: Mihai Pop. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
Inventing the Truth. On Fiction and Reality
Michele Bressan, Carmen Dobre-Hametner, Alex Mirutziu, Lea Rasovszky, Stefan Sava, Larisa Sitar
Commissioner: Monica Morariu. Deputy Commissioner: Alexandru Damian. Curator: Diana Marincu. Deputy Curators: Ephemair Association (Suzana Dan and Silvia Rogozea). Venue: New Gallery of the Romanian Institute for Culture and Humanistic Research in Venice
RUSSIA
The Green Pavilion
Irina Nakhova
Commissioner: Stella Kesaeva. Curator: Margarita Tupitsyn. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
SERBIA
United Dead Nations
Ivan Grubanov
Commissioner: Lidija Merenik. Deputy Commissioner: Ana Bogdanovic. Curator: Lidija Merenik. Deputy Curator: Ana Bogdanovic. Scientific Committee: Jovan Despotovic. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
SAN MARINO
Repubblica di San Marino “ Friendship Project “ China
Xu De Qi, Liu Dawei, Liu Ruo Wang, Ma Yuan, Li Lei, Zhang Hong Mei, Eleonora Mazza, Giuliano Giulianelli, Giancarlo Frisoni, Tony Margiotta, Elisa Monaldi, Valentina Pazzini
Commissioner: Istituti Culturali della Repubblica di San Marino. Curator: Vincenzo Sanfo. Venue: TBC
SEYCHELLES, Republic of *
A Clockwork Sunset
George Camille, Léon Wilma Loïs Radegonde
Commissioner: Seychelles Art Projects Foundation. Curators: Sarah J. McDonald, Victor Schaub Wong. Venue: European Cultural Centre - Palazzo Mora
SINGAPORE
Sea State
Charles Lim Yi Yong
Commissioner: Paul Tan, National Arts Council, Singapore. Curator: Shabbir Hussain Mustafa. Scientific Committee: Eugene Tan, Kathy Lai, Ahmad Bin Mashadi, June Yap, Emi Eu, Susie Lingham, Charles Merewether, Randy Chan. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Sale d’Armi
SLOVENIA, Republic of
UTTER / The violent necessity for the embodied presence of hope
JAŠA
Commissioner: Simona Vidmar. Deputy Commissioner: Jure Kirbiš. Curators: Michele Drascek and Aurora Fonda. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale - Artiglierie
SPAIN
Los Sujetos (The Subjects)
Pepo Salazar, Cabello/Carceller, Francesc Ruiz, + Salvador Dalí
Commissioner: Ministerio Asuntos Exteriores. Gobierno de España. Curator: Marti Manen. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC
Origini della civiltà
Narine Ali, Ehsan Alar, Felipe Cardeña, Fouad Dahdouh, Aldo Damioli, Svitlana Grebenyuk, Mauro Reggio, Liu Shuishi, Nass ouh Zaghlouleh, Andrea Zucchi, Helidon Xhixha
Commissioner: Christian Maretti. Curator: Duccio Trombadori. Venue: Redentore – Giudecca, San Servolo Island
SWEDEN
Excavation of the Image: Imprint, Shadow, Spectre, Thought
Lina Selander
Commissioner: Ann-Sofi Noring. Curator: Lena Essling. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale
SWITZERLAND
Our Product
Pamela Rosenkranz
Commissioner: Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, Sandi Paucic and Marianne Burki. Deputy-Commissioner: Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, Rachele Giudici Legittimo. Curator: Susanne Pfeffer. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
THAILAND
Earth, Air, Fire & Water
Kamol Tassananchalee
Commissioner: Chai Nakhonchai, Office of Contemporary Art and Culture (OCAC), Ministry of Culture. Curator: Richard David Garst. Deputy Curator: Pongdej Chaiyakut. Venue: Paradiso Gallerie, Giardini della Biennale, Castello 1260
TURKEY
Respiro
Sarkis
Commissioner: Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts. Curator: Defne Ayas. Deputy Curator: Ozge Ersoy. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Sale d’Armi
TUVALU
Crossing the Tide
Vincent J.F. Huang
Commissioner: Taukelina Finikaso. Deputy Commissioner: Temate Melitiana. Curator: Thomas J. Berghuis. Scientific Committee: Andrea Bonifacio. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale
UKRAINE
Hope!
Yevgenia Belorusets, Nikita Kadan, Zhanna Kadyrova, Mykola Ridnyi & SerhiyZhadan, Anna Zvyagintseva, Open Group, Artem Volokitin
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture. Curator: Björn Geldhof. Venue: Riva dei Sette Martiri
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
1980 – Today: Exhibitions in the United Arab Emirates
Abdullah Al Saadi, Abdul Qader Al Rais, Abdulraheem Salim, Abdulrahman Zainal, Ahmed Al Ansari, Ahmed Sharif, Hassan Sharif, Mohamed Yousif, Mohammed Abdullah Bulhiah, Mohammed Al Qassab, Mohammed Kazem, Moosa Al Halyan, Najat Meky, Obaid Suroor, Salem Jawhar
Commissioner: Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation. Curator: Hoor Al Qasimi. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Sale d'Armi
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Joan Jonas: They Come to Us Without a Word
Joan Jonas
Commissioner: Paul C. Ha. Deputy Commissioner: MIT List Visual Arts Center. Curators: Ute Meta Bauer, Paul C. Ha. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
URUGUAY
Global Myopia II (Pencil & Paper)
Marco Maggi
Commissioner: Ricardo Pascale. Curator: Patricia Bentancour. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
VENEZUELA, Bolivarian Republic of
Te doy mi palabra (I give you my word)
Argelia Bravo, Félix Molina (Flix)
Commissioner: Oscar Sotillo Meneses. Deputy Commissioner: Reinaldo Landaeta Díaz. Curator: Oscar Sotillo Meneses. Deputy Curator: Morella Jurado. Scientific Committee: Carlos Pou Ruan. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
ZIMBABWE, Republic of
Pixels of Ubuntu/Unhu: - Exploring the social and cultural identities of the 21st century.
Chikonzero Chazunguza, Masimba Hwati, Gareth Nyandoro
Commissioner: Doreen Sibanda. Curator: Raphael Chikukwa. Deputy Curator: Tafadzwa Gwetai. Scientific Committee: Saki Mafundikwa, Biggie Samwanda, Fabian Kangai, Reverend Paul Damasane, Nontsikelelo Mutiti, Stephen Garan'anga, Dominic Benhura. Venue: Santa Maria della Pieta
ITALO-LATIN AMERICAN INSTITUTE
Voces Indígenas
Commissioner: Sylvia Irrazábal. Curator: Alfons Hug. Deputy Curator: Alberto Saraiva. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale
ARGENTINA
Sofia Medici and Laura Kalauz
PLURINATIONAL STATE OF BOLIVIA
Sonia Falcone and José Laura Yapita
BRAZIL
Adriana Barreto
Paulo Nazareth
CHILE
Rainer Krause
COLOMBIA
León David Cobo,
María Cristina Rincón and Claudia Rodríguez
COSTA RICA
Priscilla Monge
ECUADOR
Fabiano Kueva
EL SALVADOR
Mauricio Kabistan
GUATEMALA
Sandra Monterroso
HAITI
Barbara Prézeau Stephenson
HONDURAS
Leonardo González
PANAMA
Humberto Vélez
NICARAGUA
Raúl Quintanilla
PARAGUAY
Erika Meza
Javier López
PERU
José Huamán Turpo
URUGUAY
Gustavo Tabares
Ellen Slegers
001 Inverso Mundus. AES+F
Magazzino del Sale n. 5, Dorsoduro, 265 (Fondamenta delle Zattere ai Saloni); Palazzo Nani Mocenigo, Dorsoduro, 960
May 9th – October 31st
Organization: VITRARIA Glass + A Museum
www.vitraria.comwww.inversomundus.com
Catalonia in Venice: Singularity
Cantieri Navali, Castello, 40 (Calle Quintavalle)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Institut Ramon Llull
www.llull.cat
venezia2015.llull.cat
Conversion. Recycle Group
Chiesa di Sant’Antonin, Castello (Campo Sant’Antonin)
May 6th - October 31st
Organization: Moscow Museum of Modern Art
www.mmoma.ru/
Dansaekhwa
Palazzo Contarini-Polignac, Dorsoduro, 874 (Accademia)
May 7th – August 15th
Organization: The Boghossian Foundation
www.villaempain.com
Dispossession
Palazzo Donà Brusa, Campo San Polo, 2177
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: European Capital of Culture Wroclaw 2016
wroclaw2016.pl/biennale/
EM15 presents Doug Fishbone’s Leisure Land Golf
Arsenale Docks, Castello, 40A, 40B, 41C
May 6th - July 26th
Organization: EM15
www.em15venice.co.uk
Eredità e Sperimentazione
Grand Hotel Hungaria & Ausonia, Viale Santa Maria Elisabetta, 28, Lido di Venezia
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Istituto Nazionale di BioArchitettura - Sezione di Padova
www.bioarchitettura.it
Frontiers Reimagined
Palazzo Grimani, Castello, 4858 (Ramo Grimani)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Tagore Foundation International; Polo museale del Veneto
www.frontiersreimagined.org
Glasstress 2015 Gotika
Istituto Veneto di Scienze Lettere ed Arti, Palazzo Cavalli Franchetti, San Marco, 2847 (Campo Santo Stefano); Chiesa di Santa Maria della Visitazione, Centro Culturale Don Orione Artigianelli, Dorsoduro, 919 (Zattere); Fondazione Berengo, Campiello della Pescheria, 15, Murano;
May 9th — November 22nd
Organization: The State Hermitage Museum
www.hermitagemuseum.org
Graham Fagen: Scotland + Venice 2015
Palazzo Fontana, Cannaregio, 3829 (Strada Nova)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Scotland + Venice
www.scotlandandvenice.com
Grisha Bruskin. An Archaeologist’s Collection
Former Chiesa di Santa Caterina, Cannaregio, 4941-4942
May 6th – November 22nd
Organization: Centro Studi sulle Arti della Russia (CSAR), Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia
www.unive.it/csar
Helen Sear, ... The Rest Is Smoke
Santa Maria Ausiliatrice, Castello, 450 (Fondamenta San Gioacchin)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Cymru yn Fenis/Wales in Venice
www.walesinvenice.org.uk
Highway to Hell
Palazzo Michiel, Cannaregio, 4391/A (Strada Nova)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Hubei Museum of Art
www.hbmoa.com
Humanistic Nature and Society (Shan-Shui) – An Insight into the Future
Palazzo Faccanon, San Marco, 5016 (Mercerie)
May 7th – August 4th
Organization: Shanghai Himalayas Museum
www.himalayasmuseum.org
In the Eye of the Thunderstorm: Effervescent Practices from the Arab World & South Asia
Dorsoduro, 417 (Zattere)
May 6th - November 15th
Organization: ArsCulture
www.arsculture.org/www.eyeofthunderstorm.com
Italia Docet | Laboratorium- Artists, Participants, Testimonials and Activated Spectators
Palazzo Barbarigo Minotto, San Marco, 2504 (Fondamenta Duodo o Barbarigo)
May 9th – June 30th; September 11st – October 31st
Organization: Italian Art Motherboard Foundation (i-AM Foundation)
www.i-amfoundation.orgwww.venicebiennale-italiadocet.org
Jaume Plensa: Together
Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore, Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore
May 6th – November 22nd
Organization: Abbazia di San Giorgio Maggiore Benedicti Claustra Onlus
www.praglia.it
Jenny Holzer "War Paintings"
Museo Correr, San Marco, 52 (Piazza San Marco)
May 6th – November 22nd
Organization: The Written Art Foundation; Museo Correr, Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia
www.writtenartfoundation.com
correr.visitmuve.it
Jump into the Unknown
Palazzo Loredan dell’Ambasciatore, Dorsoduro, 1261-1262
May 9th – June 18th
Organization: Nine Dragon Heads
9dh-venice.com
Learn from Masters
Palazzo Bembo, San Marco, 4793 (Riva del Carbon)
May 9th – November 22nd
Organization: Pan Tianshou Foundation
pantianshou.caa.edu.cn/foundation_en
My East is Your West
Palazzo Benzon, San Marco, 3927
May 6th – October 31st
Organization: The Gujral Foundation
www.gujralfoundation.org
Ornamentalism. The Purvitis Prize
Arsenale Nord, Tesa 99
May 9th – November 22nd
Organization: The Secretariat of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2015
www.purvisabalva.lv/en/ornamentalism
Path and Adventure
Arsenale, Castello, 2126/A (Campo della Tana)
May 9th – November 22nd
Organization: The Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau; The Macao Museum of Art; The Cultural Affairs Bureau
www.iacm.gov.mowww.mam.gov.mowww.icm.gov.mo
Patricia Cronin: Shrine for Girls, Venice
Chiesa di San Gallo, San Marco, 1103 (Campo San Gallo)
May 9th – November 22nd
Organization: Brooklyn Rail Curatorial Projects
curatorialprojects.brooklynrail.org
Roberto Sebastian Matta. Sculture
Giardino di Palazzo Soranzo Cappello, Soprintendenza BAP per le Province di Venezia, Belluno, Padova e Treviso, Santa Croce, 770 (Fondamenta Rio Marin)
May 9th – November 22nd
Organization: Fondazione Echaurren Salaris
www.fondazioneechaurrensalaris.itwww.maggioregam.com/56Biennale_Matta
Salon Suisse: S.O.S. Dada - The World Is A Mess
Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi, Dorsoduro, 810 (Campo Sant'Agnese)
May 9th; June 4th - 6th; September 10th - 12th; October 15th - 17th; November 19th – 21st
Organization: Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia
www.prohelvetia.chwww.biennials.ch
Sean Scully: Land Sea
Palazzo Falier, San Marco, 2906
May 9th – November 22nd
Organization: Fondazione Volume!
www.fondazionevolume.com
Sepphoris. Alessandro Valeri
Molino Stucky, interior atrium, Giudecca, 812
May 9th – November 22nd
Organization: Assessorato alla Cultura del Comune di Narni(TR); a Sidereal Space of Art; Satellite Berlin
www.sepphorisproject.org
Tesla Revisited
Palazzo Nani Mocenigo, Dorsoduro, 960
May 9th – October 18th
Organization: VITRARIA Glass + A Museum
www.vitraria.com/
The Bridges of Graffiti
Arterminal c/o Terminal San Basilio, Dorsoduro (Fondamenta Zattere al Ponte Lungo)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Associazione Culturale Inossidabile
www.inossidabileac.com
The Dialogue of Fire. Ceramic and Glass Masters from Barcelona to Venice
Palazzo Tiepolo Passi, San Polo, 2774
May 6th - November 22nd
Organization: Fundaciò Artigas; ArsCulture
www.fundacio-artigas.com/www.arsculture.org/www.dialogueoffire.org
The Question of Beings
Istituto Santa Maria della Pietà, Castello, 3701
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei (MoCA, Taipei)
www.mocataipei.org.tw
The Revenge of the Common Place
Università Ca' Foscari, Ca' Bernardo, Dorsoduro, 3199 (Calle Bernardo)
May 9th – September 30th
Organization: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Free University Brussels-VUB)
www.vub.ac.be/
The Silver Lining. Contemporary Art from Liechtenstein and other Microstates
Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi, Dorsoduro, 810 (Campo Sant'Agnese)
October 24th – November 1st
Organization: Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein
www.kunstmuseum.liwww.silverlining.li
The Sound of Creation. Paintings + Music by Beezy Bailey and Brian Eno
Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello, Palazzo Pisani, San Marco, 2810 (Campo Santo Stefano)
May 7th - November 22nd
Organization: ArsCulture
www.arsculture.org/
The Union of Fire and Water
Palazzo Barbaro, San Marco, 2840
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: YARAT Contemporary Art Organisation
www.yarat.azwww.bakuvenice2015.com
Thirty Light Years - Theatre of Chinese Art
Palazzo Rossini, San Marco, 4013 (Campo Manin)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: GAC Global Art Center Foundation; The Guangdong Museum of Art
www.globalartcenter.orgwww.gdmoa.org
Tsang Kin-Wah: The Infinite Nothing, Hong Kong in Venice
Arsenale, Castello, 2126 (Campo della Tana)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: M+, West Kowloon Cultural District; Hong Kong Arts Development Council
www.westkowloon.hk/en/mpluswww.hkadc.org.hkwww.venicebiennale.hk
Under the Surface, Newfoundland and Labrador at Venice
Galleria Ca' Rezzonico, Dorsoduro, 2793
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Terra Nova Art Foundation
tnaf.ca
Ursula von Rydingsvard
Giardino della Marinaressa, Castello (Riva dei Sette Martiri)
May 6th - November 22nd
Organization:Yorkshire Sculpture Park
www.ysp.co.uk
We Must Risk Delight: Twenty Artists from Los Angeles
Magazzino del Sale n. 3, Dorsoduro, 264 (Zattere)
May 7th - November 22nd
Organization: bardoLA
www.bardoLA.org
Wu Tien-Chang: Never Say Goodbye
Palazzo delle Prigioni, Castello, 4209 (San Marco)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Taipei Fine Arts Museum of Taiwan
www.tfam.museum
Russian Federation, Architecture of Holy Moscow, Church of Saint Gregory of Neocaesarea in Polyanka, fragment of the Bell tower. Bolshaya Polyanka street, Yakimanka district. Православнаѧ Црковь. traveladventureeverywhere.blogspot.com/2020/08/holy-mosco...
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ALBANIA
Albanian Trilogy: A Series of Devious Stratagems
Armando Lulaj
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture. Curator: Marco Scotini. Deputy Curator: Andris Brinkmanis. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale
ANDORRA
Inner Landscapes
Roqué, Joan Xandri
Commissioner: Henry Périer. Deputy Commissioner: Joana Baygual, Sebastià Petit, Francesc Rodríguez
Curator: Paolo de Grandis, Josep M. Ubach. Venue: Spiazzi, Castello 3865
ANGOLA
On Ways of Travelling
António Ole, Binelde Hyrcan, Délio Jasse, Francisco Vidal, Nelo Teixeira
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture, Rita Guedes Tavares. Curator: António Ole. Deputy Curator: Antonia Gaeta. Venue: Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello - Palazzo Pisani, San Marco 2810
ARGENTINA
The Uprising of Form
Juan Carlos Diste´fano
Commissioner: Magdalena Faillace. Curator: Mari´a Teresa Constantin. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Sale d’Armi
ARMENIA, Republic of
Armenity / Haiyutioun
Haig Aivazian, Lebanon; Nigol Bezjian, Syria/USA; Anna Boghiguian Egypt/Canada; Hera Büyüktasçiyan, Turkey; Silvina Der-Meguerditchian, Argentina/Germany; Rene Gabri & Ayreen Anastas, Iran/Palestine/USA; Mekhitar Garabedian, Belgium; Aikaterini Gegisian, Greece; Yervant Gianikian & Angela Ricci Lucchi, Italy; Aram Jibilian, USA; Nina Katchadourian, USA/Finland; Melik Ohanian, France; Mikayel Ohanjanyan, Armenia/Italy; Rosana Palazyan, Brazil; Sarkis, Turkey/France; Hrair Sarkissian, Syria/UK
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia. Deputy Commissioner: Art for the World, Mekhitarist Congregation of San Lazzaro Island, Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in Italy, Vartan Karapetian. Curator: Adelina Cüberyan von Fürstenberg. Venue: Monastery and Island of San Lazzaro degli Armeni
AUSTRALIA
Fiona Hall: Wrong Way Time
Fiona Hall
Commissioner: Simon Mordant AM. Deputy Commissioner: Charles Green. Curator: Linda Michael. Scientific Committee: Simon Mordant AM, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Max Delany, Rachel Kent, Danie Mellor, Suhanya Raffel, Leigh Robb. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
AUSTRIA
Heimo Zobernig
Commissioner: Yilmaz Dziewior. Curator: Yilmaz Dziewior. Scientific Committee: Friends of the Venice Biennale. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
AZERBAIJAN, Republic of
Beyond the Line
Ashraf Murad, Javad Mirjavadov, Tofik Javadov, Rasim Babayev, Fazil Najafov, Huseyn Hagverdi, Shamil Najafzada
Commissioner: Heydar Aliyev Foundation. Curators: de Pury de Pury, Emin Mammadov. Venue: Palazzo Lezze, Campo S.Stefano, San Marco 2949
Vita Vitale
Edward Burtynsky, Mircea Cantor, Loris Cecchini, Gordon Cheung, Khalil Chishtee, Tony Cragg, Laura Ford, Noemie Goudal, Siobhán Hapaska, Paul Huxley, IDEA laboratory and Leyla Aliyeva, Chris Jordan with Rebecca Clark and Helena S.Eitel, Tania Kovats, Aida Mahmudova, Sayyora Muin, Jacco Olivier, Julian Opie, Julian Perry, Mike Perry, Bas Princen, Stephanie Quayle, Ugo Rondinone, Graham Stevens, Diana Thater, Andy Warhol, Bill Woodrow, Erwin Wurm, Rose Wylie
Commissioner: Heydar Aliyev Foundation. Curators: Artwise: Susie Allen, Laura Culpan, Dea Vanagan. Venue: Ca’ Garzoni, San Marco 3416
BELARUS, Republic of
War Witness Archive
Konstantin Selikhanov
Commissioner: Natallia Sharanhovich. Deputy Commissioners: Alena Vasileuskaya, Kamilia Yanushkevich. Curators: Aleksei Shinkarenko, Olga Rybchinskaya. Scientific Committee: Dmitry Korol, Daria Amelkovich, Julia Kondratyuk, Sergei Jeihala, Sheena Macfarlane, Yuliya Heisik, Hanna Samarskaya, Taras Kaliahin, Aliaksandr Stasevich. Venue: Riva San Biagio, Castello 2145
BELGIUM
Personnes et les autres
Vincent Meessen and Guests, Mathieu K. Abonnenc, Sammy Baloji, James Beckett, Elisabetta Benassi, Patrick Bernier & Olive Martin, Tamar Guimara~es & Kasper Akhøj, Maryam Jafri, Adam Pendleton
Commissioner: Wallonia-Brussels Federation and Wallonia-Brussels International. Curator: Katerina Gregos. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
COSTA RICA
"Costa Rica, Paese di pace, invita a un linguaggio universale d'intesa tra i popoli".
Andrea Prandi, Beatrice Gallori, Beth Parin, Biagio Schembari, Carla Castaldo, Celestina Avanzini, Cesare Berlingeri, Erminio Tansini, Fabio Capitanio, Fausto Beretti, Giovan Battista Pedrazzini, Giovanni Lamberti, Giovanni Tenga, Iana Zanoskar, Jim Prescott, Leonardo Beccegato, Liliana Scocco, Lucia Bolzano, Marcela Vicuna, Marco Bellagamba, Marco Lodola, Maria Gioia dell’Aglio, Mario Bernardinello, Massimo Meucci, Nacha Piattini, Omar Ronda, Renzo Eusebi, Tita Patti, Romina Power, Rubens Fogacci, Silvio di Pietro, Stefano Sichel, Tino Stefanoni, Ufemia Ritz, Ugo Borlenghi, Umberto Mariani, Venere Chillemi, Jacqueline Gallicot Madar, Massimo Onnis, Fedora Spinelli
Commissioner: Ileana Ordonez Chacon. Curator: Gregorio Rossi. Venue: Palazzo Bollani
CROATIA
Studies on Shivering: The Third Degree
Damir Ocko
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture. Curator: Marc Bembekoff. Venue: Palazzo Pisani, S. Marina
CUBA
El artista entre la individualidad y el contexto
Lida Abdul, Celia-Yunior, Grethell Rasúa, Giuseppe Stampone, LinYilin, Luis Edgardo Gómez Armenteros, Olga Chernysheva, Susana Pilar Delahante Matienzo
Commissioner: Miria Vicini. Curators: Jorge Fernández Torres, Giacomo Zaza. Venue: San Servolo Island
CYPRUS, Republic of
Two Days After Forever
Christodoulos Panayiotou
Commissioner: Louli Michaelidou. Deputy Commissioner: Angela Skordi. Curator: Omar Kholeif. Deputy Curator: Daniella Rose King. Venue: Palazzo Malipiero, Sestiere San Marco 3079
CZECH Republic and SLOVAK Republic
Apotheosis
Jirí David
Commissioner: Adam Budak. Deputy Commissioner: Barbara Holomkova. Curator: Katarina Rusnakova. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
ECUADOR
Gold Water: Apocalyptic Black Mirrors
Maria Veronica Leon Veintemilla in collaboration with Lucia Vallarino Peet
Commissioner: Andrea Gonzàlez Sanchez. Deputy Commissioner: PDG Arte Communications. Curator: Ileana Cornea. Deputy Curator: Maria Veronica Leon Veintemilla. Venue: Istituto Santa Maria della Pietà, Castello 3701
ESTONIA
NSFW. From the Abyss of History
Jaanus Samma
Commissioner: Maria Arusoo. Curator: Eugenio Viola. Venue: Palazzo Malipiero, campo San Samuele, San Marco 3199
EGYPT
CAN YOU SEE
Ahmed Abdel Fatah, Gamal Elkheshen, Maher Dawoud
Commissioner: Hany Al Ashkar. Curator: Ministry of Culture. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
FINLAND (Pavilion Alvar Aalto)
Hours, Years, Aeons
IC-98
Commissioner: Frame Visual Art Finland, Raija Koli. Curator: Taru Elfving. Deputy Curator: Anna Virtanen. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
FRANCE
revolutions
Céleste Boursier-Mougenot
Commissioner: Institut français, with Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication. Curator: Emma Lavigne. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
GEORGIA
Crawling Border
Rusudan Gobejishvili Khizanishvili, Irakli Bluishvili, Dimitri Chikvaidze, Joseph Sabia
Commissioner: Ana Riaboshenko. Curator: Nia Mgaloblishvili. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Sale d’Armi
GERMANY
Fabrik
Jasmina Metwaly / Philip Rizk, Olaf Nicolai, Hito Steyerl, Tobias Zielony
Commissioner: ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen) on behalf of the Federal Foreign Office. Deputy Commissioner: Elke aus dem Moore, Nina Hülsmeier. Curator: Florian Ebner. Deputy Curator: Tanja Milewsky, Ilina Koralova. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
GREAT BRITAIN
Sarah Lucas
Commissioner: Emma Dexter. Curator: Richard Riley. Deputy Curator: Katrina Schwarz. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
GRENADA *
Present Nearness
Oliver Benoit, Maria McClafferty, Asher Mains, Francesco Bosso and Carmine Ciccarini, Guiseppe Linardi
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture. Deputy Commissioner: Susan Mains. Curator: Susan Mains. Deputy Curator: Francesco Elisei. Venue: Opera don Orione Artigianelli, Sala Tiziano, Fondamenta delle Zattere ai Gesuati, Dorsoduro 919
GREECE
Why Look at Animals? AGRIMIKÁ.
Maria Papadimitriou
Commissioner: Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Education and Religious Affairs. Curator: Gabi Scardi. Deputy Curator: Alexios Papazacharias. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
BRAZIL
So much that it doesn't fit here
Antonio Manuel, André Komatsu, Berna Reale
Commissioner: Luis Terepins. Curator: Luiz Camillo Osorio. Deputy Curator: Cauê Alves. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
CANADA
Canadassimo
BGL
Commissioner: National Gallery of Canada, Marc Mayer. Deputy Commissioner: National Gallery of Canada, Yves Théoret. Curator: Marie Fraser. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
CHILE
Poéticas de la disidencia | Poetics of dissent: Paz Errázuriz - Lotty Rosenfeld
Paz Errázuriz, Lotty Rosenfeld
Commissioner: Antonio Arèvalo. Deputy Commissioner: Juan Pablo Vergara Undurraga. Curator: Nelly Richard. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale - Artiglierie
CHINA, People’s Republic of
Other Future
LIU Jiakun, LU Yang, TAN Dun, WEN Hui/Living Dance Studio, WU Wenguang/Caochangdi Work Station
Commissioner: China Arts and Entertainment Group, CAEG. Deputy Commissioners: Zhang Yu, Yan Dong. Curator: Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation. Scientific Committee: Fan Di’an, Zhang Zikang, Zhu Di, Gao Shiming, Zhu Qingsheng, Pu Tong, Shang Hui. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Giardino delle Vergini
GUATEMALA
Sweet Death
Emma Anticoli Borza, Sabrina Bertolelli, Mariadolores Castellanos, Max Leiva, Pier Domenico Magri, Adriana Montalto, Elmar Rojas (Elmar René Rojas Azurdia), Paolo Schmidlin, Mónica Serra, Elsie Wunderlich, Collettivo La Grande Bouffe
Commissioner: Daniele Radini Tedeschi. Curators: Stefania Pieralice, Carlo Marraffa, Elsie Wunderlich. Deputy Curators: Luciano Carini, Simone Pieralice. Venue: Officina delle Zattere, Dorsoduro 947, Fondamenta Nani
HOLY SEE
Commissioner: Em.mo Card. Gianfranco Ravasi, Presidente del Pontificio Consiglio della Cultura. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Sale d’Armi
HUNGARY
Sustainable Identities
Szilárd Cseke
Commissioner: Monika Balatoni. Deputy Commissioner: István Puskás, Sándor Fodor, Anna Karády. Curator: Kinga German. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
ICELAND
Christoph Büchel
Commissioner: Björg Stefánsdóttir. Curator: Nína Magnúsdóttir. Venue: to be confirmed
INDONESIA, Republic of
Komodo Voyage
Heri Dono
Commissioner: Sapta Nirwandar. Deputy Commissioner: Soedarmadji JH Damais. Curator: Carla Bianpoen, Restu Imansari Kusumaningrum. Scientific Committee: Franco Laera, Asmudjo Jono Irianto, Watie Moerany, Elisabetta di Mambro. Venue: Venue: Arsenale
IRAN
Iranian Highlights
Samira Alikhanzaradeh, Mahmoud Bakhshi Moakhar, Jamshid Bayrami, Mohammed Ehsai
The Great Game
Lida Abdul, Bani Abidi, Adel Abidin, Amin Agheai, Ghodratollah Agheli, Shahriar Ahmadi, Parastou Ahovan, Farhad Ahrarnia, Rashad Alakbarov, Nazgol Ansarinia, Reza Aramesh, Alireza Astaneh, Sonia Balassanian, Mahmoud Bakhshi, Moakhar Wafaa Bilal, Mehdi Farhadian, Monir Farmanfarmaian, Shadi Ghadirian, Babak Golkar, Shilpa Gupta, Ghasem Hajizadeh, Shamsia Hassani, Sahand Hesamiyan, Sitara Ibrahimova, Pouran Jinchi, Amar Kanwar, Babak Kazemi, Ryas Komu, Ahmad Morshedloo, Farhad Moshiri, Mehrdad Mohebali, Huma Mulji, Azad Nanakeli, Jamal Penjweny, Imran Qureshi, Sara Rahbar, Rashid Rana, T.V. Santhosh, Walid Siti, Mohsen Taasha Wahidi, Mitra Tabrizian, Parviz Tanavoli, Newsha Tavakolian, Sadegh Tirafkan, Hema Upadhyay, Saira Wasim
Commissioner: Majid Mollanooruzi. Deputy Commissioners: Marco Meneguzzo, Mazdak Faiznia. Curators: Marco Meneguzzo, Mazdak Faiznia. Venue: Calle San Giovanni 1074/B, Cannaregio
IRAQ
Commissioner: Ruya Foundation for Contemporary Culture in Iraq (RUYA). Deputy Commissioner: Nuova Icona - Associazione Culturale per le Arti. Curator: Philippe Van Cauteren. Venue: Ca' Dandolo, San Polo 2879
IRELAND
Adventure: Capital
Sean Lynch
Commissioner: Mike Fitzpatrick. Curator: Woodrow Kernohan. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale - Artiglierie
ISRAEL
Tsibi Geva | Archeology of the Present
Tsibi Geva
Commissioner: Arad Turgem, Michael Gov. Curator: Hadas Maor. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
ITALY
Ministero dei Beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo - Direzione Generale Arte e Architettura Contemporanee e Periferie Urbane. Commissioner: Federica Galloni. Curator: Vincenzo Trione. Venue: Padiglione Italia, Tese delle Vergini at Arsenale
JAPAN
The Key in the Hand
Chiharu Shiota
Commissioner: The Japan Foundation. Deputy Commissioner: Yukihiro Ohira, Manako Kawata and Haruka Nakajima. Curator: Hitoshi Nakano. Venue : Pavilion at Giardini
KENYA
Creating Identities
Yvonne Apiyo Braendle-Amolo, Qin Feng, Shi Jinsong, Armando Tanzini, Li Zhanyang, Lan Zheng Hui, Li Gang, Double Fly Art Center
Commissioner: Paola Poponi. Curator: Sandro Orlandi Stagl. Deputy Curator: Ding Xuefeng. Venue: San Servolo Island
KOREA, Republic of
The Ways of Folding Space & Flying
MOON Kyungwon & JEON Joonho
Commissioner: Sook-Kyung Lee. Curator: Sook-Kyung Lee. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
KOSOVO, Republic of
Speculating on the blue
Flaka Haliti
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports. Curator: Nicolaus Schafhausen. Deputy Curator: Katharina Schendl. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale - Artiglierie
LATVIA
Armpit
Katrina Neiburga, Andris Eglitis
Commissioner: Solvita Krese (Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art). Deputy Commissioner: Kitija Vasiljeva. Curator: Kaspars Vanags. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale
LITHUANIA
Museum
Dainius Liškevicius
Commissioner: Vytautas Michelkevicius. Deputy Commissioner: Rasa Antanaviciute. Curator: Vytautas Michelkevicius. Venue: Palazzo Zenobio, Fondamenta del Soccorso 2569, Dorsoduro
LUXEMBOURG, Grand Duchy of
Paradiso Lussemburgo
Filip Markiewicz
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture. Deputy Commissioner: MUDAM Luxembourg. Curator: Paul Ardenne. Venue: Cà Del Duca, Corte del Duca Sforza, San Marco 3052
MACEDONIA, Former Yugoslavian Republic of
We are all in this alone
Hristina Ivanoska and Yane Calovski
Commissioner: Maja Nedelkoska Brzanova, National Gallery of Macedonia. Deputy Commissioner: Olivija Stoilkova. Curator: Basak Senova. Deputy Curator: Maja Cankulovska Mihajlovska. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale - Sale d’Armi
MAURITIUS *
From One Citizen You Gather an Idea
Sultana Haukim, Nirmal Hurry, Alix Le Juge, Olga Jürgenson, Helge Leiberg, Krishna Luchoomun, Neermala Luckeenarain, Kavinash Thomoo, Bik Van Der Pol, Laure Prouvost, Vitaly Pushnitsky, Römer + Römer
Commissioner: pARTage. Curators: Alfredo Cramerotti, Olga Jürgenson. Venue: Palazzo Flangini - Canareggio 252
MEXICO
Possesing Nature
Tania Candiani, Luis Felipe Ortega
Commissioner: Tomaso Radaelli. Deputy Commissioner: Magdalena Zavala Bonachea. Curator: Karla Jasso. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Sale d’Armi
MONGOLIA *
Other Home
Enkhbold Togmidshiirev, Unen Enkh
Commissioner: Gantuya Badamgarav, MCASA. Curator: Uranchimeg Tsultemin. Scientific Committee: David A Ross, Boldbaatar Chultemin. Venue: European Cultural Centre - Palazzo Mora
MONTENEGRO
,,Ti ricordi Sjecaš li se You Remember "
Aleksandar Duravcevic
Commissioner/Curator: Anastazija Miranovic. Deputy Commissioner: Danica Bogojevic. Venue: Palazzo Malipiero (piano terra), San Marco 3078-3079/A, Ramo Malipiero
MOZAMBIQUE, Republic of *
Theme: Coexistence of Tradition and Modernity in Contemporary Mozambique
Mozambique Artists
Commissioner: Joel Matias Libombo. Deputy Commissioner: Gilberto Paulino Cossa. Curator: Comissariado-Geral para a Expo Milano 2015. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale
NETHERLANDS, The
herman de vries - to be all ways to be
herman de vries
Commissioner: Mondriaan Fund. Curators: Colin Huizing, Cees de Boer. Venue: Pavilion ar Giardini
NEW ZEALAND
Secret Power
Simon Denny
Commissioner: Heather Galbraith. Curator: Robert Leonard. Venue: Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Marco Polo Airport
NORDIC PAVILION (NORWAY)
Camille Norment
Commissioner: OCA, Office for Contemporary Art Norway. Curator: Katya García-Antón. Deputy Curator: Antonio Cataldo. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
PERU
Misplaced Ruins
Gilda Mantilla and Raimond Chaves
Commissioner: Armando Andrade de Lucio. Curator: Max Hernández-Calvo. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Sale d’Armi
PHILIPPINES
Tie a String Around the World
Manuel Conde, Carlos Francisco, Manny Montelibano, Jose Tence Ruiz
Commissioner: National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), Felipe M. de Leon Jr. Curator: Patrick D. Flores. Venue: European Cultural Centre - Palazzo Mora
POLAND
Halka/Haiti. 18°48’05”N 72°23’01”W
C.T. Jasper, Joanna Malinowska
Commissioner: Hanna Wróblewska. Deputy Commissioner: Joanna Wasko. Curator: Magdalena Moskalewicz. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
PORTUGAL
I Will Be Your Mirror / poems and problems
João Louro
Commissioner/Curator: María de Corral. Venue: Palazzo Loredan, campo S. Stefano
ROMANIA
Adrian Ghenie: Darwin’s Room
Adrian Ghenie
Commissioner: Monica Morariu. Deputy Commissioner: Alexandru Damian. Curator: Mihai Pop. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
Inventing the Truth. On Fiction and Reality
Michele Bressan, Carmen Dobre-Hametner, Alex Mirutziu, Lea Rasovszky, Stefan Sava, Larisa Sitar
Commissioner: Monica Morariu. Deputy Commissioner: Alexandru Damian. Curator: Diana Marincu. Deputy Curators: Ephemair Association (Suzana Dan and Silvia Rogozea). Venue: New Gallery of the Romanian Institute for Culture and Humanistic Research in Venice
RUSSIA
The Green Pavilion
Irina Nakhova
Commissioner: Stella Kesaeva. Curator: Margarita Tupitsyn. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
SERBIA
United Dead Nations
Ivan Grubanov
Commissioner: Lidija Merenik. Deputy Commissioner: Ana Bogdanovic. Curator: Lidija Merenik. Deputy Curator: Ana Bogdanovic. Scientific Committee: Jovan Despotovic. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
SAN MARINO
Repubblica di San Marino “ Friendship Project “ China
Xu De Qi, Liu Dawei, Liu Ruo Wang, Ma Yuan, Li Lei, Zhang Hong Mei, Eleonora Mazza, Giuliano Giulianelli, Giancarlo Frisoni, Tony Margiotta, Elisa Monaldi, Valentina Pazzini
Commissioner: Istituti Culturali della Repubblica di San Marino. Curator: Vincenzo Sanfo. Venue: TBC
SEYCHELLES, Republic of *
A Clockwork Sunset
George Camille, Léon Wilma Loïs Radegonde
Commissioner: Seychelles Art Projects Foundation. Curators: Sarah J. McDonald, Victor Schaub Wong. Venue: European Cultural Centre - Palazzo Mora
SINGAPORE
Sea State
Charles Lim Yi Yong
Commissioner: Paul Tan, National Arts Council, Singapore. Curator: Shabbir Hussain Mustafa. Scientific Committee: Eugene Tan, Kathy Lai, Ahmad Bin Mashadi, June Yap, Emi Eu, Susie Lingham, Charles Merewether, Randy Chan. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Sale d’Armi
SLOVENIA, Republic of
UTTER / The violent necessity for the embodied presence of hope
JAŠA
Commissioner: Simona Vidmar. Deputy Commissioner: Jure Kirbiš. Curators: Michele Drascek and Aurora Fonda. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale - Artiglierie
SPAIN
Los Sujetos (The Subjects)
Pepo Salazar, Cabello/Carceller, Francesc Ruiz, + Salvador Dalí
Commissioner: Ministerio Asuntos Exteriores. Gobierno de España. Curator: Marti Manen. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC
Origini della civiltà
Narine Ali, Ehsan Alar, Felipe Cardeña, Fouad Dahdouh, Aldo Damioli, Svitlana Grebenyuk, Mauro Reggio, Liu Shuishi, Nass ouh Zaghlouleh, Andrea Zucchi, Helidon Xhixha
Commissioner: Christian Maretti. Curator: Duccio Trombadori. Venue: Redentore – Giudecca, San Servolo Island
SWEDEN
Excavation of the Image: Imprint, Shadow, Spectre, Thought
Lina Selander
Commissioner: Ann-Sofi Noring. Curator: Lena Essling. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale
SWITZERLAND
Our Product
Pamela Rosenkranz
Commissioner: Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, Sandi Paucic and Marianne Burki. Deputy-Commissioner: Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, Rachele Giudici Legittimo. Curator: Susanne Pfeffer. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
THAILAND
Earth, Air, Fire & Water
Kamol Tassananchalee
Commissioner: Chai Nakhonchai, Office of Contemporary Art and Culture (OCAC), Ministry of Culture. Curator: Richard David Garst. Deputy Curator: Pongdej Chaiyakut. Venue: Paradiso Gallerie, Giardini della Biennale, Castello 1260
TURKEY
Respiro
Sarkis
Commissioner: Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts. Curator: Defne Ayas. Deputy Curator: Ozge Ersoy. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Sale d’Armi
TUVALU
Crossing the Tide
Vincent J.F. Huang
Commissioner: Taukelina Finikaso. Deputy Commissioner: Temate Melitiana. Curator: Thomas J. Berghuis. Scientific Committee: Andrea Bonifacio. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale
UKRAINE
Hope!
Yevgenia Belorusets, Nikita Kadan, Zhanna Kadyrova, Mykola Ridnyi & SerhiyZhadan, Anna Zvyagintseva, Open Group, Artem Volokitin
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture. Curator: Björn Geldhof. Venue: Riva dei Sette Martiri
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
1980 – Today: Exhibitions in the United Arab Emirates
Abdullah Al Saadi, Abdul Qader Al Rais, Abdulraheem Salim, Abdulrahman Zainal, Ahmed Al Ansari, Ahmed Sharif, Hassan Sharif, Mohamed Yousif, Mohammed Abdullah Bulhiah, Mohammed Al Qassab, Mohammed Kazem, Moosa Al Halyan, Najat Meky, Obaid Suroor, Salem Jawhar
Commissioner: Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation. Curator: Hoor Al Qasimi. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale – Sale d'Armi
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Joan Jonas: They Come to Us Without a Word
Joan Jonas
Commissioner: Paul C. Ha. Deputy Commissioner: MIT List Visual Arts Center. Curators: Ute Meta Bauer, Paul C. Ha. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
URUGUAY
Global Myopia II (Pencil & Paper)
Marco Maggi
Commissioner: Ricardo Pascale. Curator: Patricia Bentancour. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
VENEZUELA, Bolivarian Republic of
Te doy mi palabra (I give you my word)
Argelia Bravo, Félix Molina (Flix)
Commissioner: Oscar Sotillo Meneses. Deputy Commissioner: Reinaldo Landaeta Díaz. Curator: Oscar Sotillo Meneses. Deputy Curator: Morella Jurado. Scientific Committee: Carlos Pou Ruan. Venue: Pavilion at Giardini
ZIMBABWE, Republic of
Pixels of Ubuntu/Unhu: - Exploring the social and cultural identities of the 21st century.
Chikonzero Chazunguza, Masimba Hwati, Gareth Nyandoro
Commissioner: Doreen Sibanda. Curator: Raphael Chikukwa. Deputy Curator: Tafadzwa Gwetai. Scientific Committee: Saki Mafundikwa, Biggie Samwanda, Fabian Kangai, Reverend Paul Damasane, Nontsikelelo Mutiti, Stephen Garan'anga, Dominic Benhura. Venue: Santa Maria della Pieta
ITALO-LATIN AMERICAN INSTITUTE
Voces Indígenas
Commissioner: Sylvia Irrazábal. Curator: Alfons Hug. Deputy Curator: Alberto Saraiva. Venue: Pavilion at Arsenale
ARGENTINA
Sofia Medici and Laura Kalauz
PLURINATIONAL STATE OF BOLIVIA
Sonia Falcone and José Laura Yapita
BRAZIL
Adriana Barreto
Paulo Nazareth
CHILE
Rainer Krause
COLOMBIA
León David Cobo,
María Cristina Rincón and Claudia Rodríguez
COSTA RICA
Priscilla Monge
ECUADOR
Fabiano Kueva
EL SALVADOR
Mauricio Kabistan
GUATEMALA
Sandra Monterroso
HAITI
Barbara Prézeau Stephenson
HONDURAS
Leonardo González
PANAMA
Humberto Vélez
NICARAGUA
Raúl Quintanilla
PARAGUAY
Erika Meza
Javier López
PERU
José Huamán Turpo
URUGUAY
Gustavo Tabares
Ellen Slegers
001 Inverso Mundus. AES+F
Magazzino del Sale n. 5, Dorsoduro, 265 (Fondamenta delle Zattere ai Saloni); Palazzo Nani Mocenigo, Dorsoduro, 960
May 9th – October 31st
Organization: VITRARIA Glass + A Museum
www.vitraria.comwww.inversomundus.com
Catalonia in Venice: Singularity
Cantieri Navali, Castello, 40 (Calle Quintavalle)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Institut Ramon Llull
www.llull.cat
venezia2015.llull.cat
Conversion. Recycle Group
Chiesa di Sant’Antonin, Castello (Campo Sant’Antonin)
May 6th - October 31st
Organization: Moscow Museum of Modern Art
www.mmoma.ru/
Dansaekhwa
Palazzo Contarini-Polignac, Dorsoduro, 874 (Accademia)
May 7th – August 15th
Organization: The Boghossian Foundation
www.villaempain.com
Dispossession
Palazzo Donà Brusa, Campo San Polo, 2177
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: European Capital of Culture Wroclaw 2016
wroclaw2016.pl/biennale/
EM15 presents Doug Fishbone’s Leisure Land Golf
Arsenale Docks, Castello, 40A, 40B, 41C
May 6th - July 26th
Organization: EM15
www.em15venice.co.uk
Eredità e Sperimentazione
Grand Hotel Hungaria & Ausonia, Viale Santa Maria Elisabetta, 28, Lido di Venezia
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Istituto Nazionale di BioArchitettura - Sezione di Padova
www.bioarchitettura.it
Frontiers Reimagined
Palazzo Grimani, Castello, 4858 (Ramo Grimani)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Tagore Foundation International; Polo museale del Veneto
www.frontiersreimagined.org
Glasstress 2015 Gotika
Istituto Veneto di Scienze Lettere ed Arti, Palazzo Cavalli Franchetti, San Marco, 2847 (Campo Santo Stefano); Chiesa di Santa Maria della Visitazione, Centro Culturale Don Orione Artigianelli, Dorsoduro, 919 (Zattere); Fondazione Berengo, Campiello della Pescheria, 15, Murano;
May 9th — November 22nd
Organization: The State Hermitage Museum
www.hermitagemuseum.org
Graham Fagen: Scotland + Venice 2015
Palazzo Fontana, Cannaregio, 3829 (Strada Nova)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Scotland + Venice
www.scotlandandvenice.com
Grisha Bruskin. An Archaeologist’s Collection
Former Chiesa di Santa Caterina, Cannaregio, 4941-4942
May 6th – November 22nd
Organization: Centro Studi sulle Arti della Russia (CSAR), Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia
www.unive.it/csar
Helen Sear, ... The Rest Is Smoke
Santa Maria Ausiliatrice, Castello, 450 (Fondamenta San Gioacchin)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Cymru yn Fenis/Wales in Venice
www.walesinvenice.org.uk
Highway to Hell
Palazzo Michiel, Cannaregio, 4391/A (Strada Nova)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Hubei Museum of Art
www.hbmoa.com
Humanistic Nature and Society (Shan-Shui) – An Insight into the Future
Palazzo Faccanon, San Marco, 5016 (Mercerie)
May 7th – August 4th
Organization: Shanghai Himalayas Museum
www.himalayasmuseum.org
In the Eye of the Thunderstorm: Effervescent Practices from the Arab World & South Asia
Dorsoduro, 417 (Zattere)
May 6th - November 15th
Organization: ArsCulture
www.arsculture.org/www.eyeofthunderstorm.com
Italia Docet | Laboratorium- Artists, Participants, Testimonials and Activated Spectators
Palazzo Barbarigo Minotto, San Marco, 2504 (Fondamenta Duodo o Barbarigo)
May 9th – June 30th; September 11st – October 31st
Organization: Italian Art Motherboard Foundation (i-AM Foundation)
www.i-amfoundation.orgwww.venicebiennale-italiadocet.org
Jaume Plensa: Together
Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore, Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore
May 6th – November 22nd
Organization: Abbazia di San Giorgio Maggiore Benedicti Claustra Onlus
www.praglia.it
Jenny Holzer "War Paintings"
Museo Correr, San Marco, 52 (Piazza San Marco)
May 6th – November 22nd
Organization: The Written Art Foundation; Museo Correr, Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia
www.writtenartfoundation.com
correr.visitmuve.it
Jump into the Unknown
Palazzo Loredan dell’Ambasciatore, Dorsoduro, 1261-1262
May 9th – June 18th
Organization: Nine Dragon Heads
9dh-venice.com
Learn from Masters
Palazzo Bembo, San Marco, 4793 (Riva del Carbon)
May 9th – November 22nd
Organization: Pan Tianshou Foundation
pantianshou.caa.edu.cn/foundation_en
My East is Your West
Palazzo Benzon, San Marco, 3927
May 6th – October 31st
Organization: The Gujral Foundation
www.gujralfoundation.org
Ornamentalism. The Purvitis Prize
Arsenale Nord, Tesa 99
May 9th – November 22nd
Organization: The Secretariat of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2015
www.purvisabalva.lv/en/ornamentalism
Path and Adventure
Arsenale, Castello, 2126/A (Campo della Tana)
May 9th – November 22nd
Organization: The Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau; The Macao Museum of Art; The Cultural Affairs Bureau
www.iacm.gov.mowww.mam.gov.mowww.icm.gov.mo
Patricia Cronin: Shrine for Girls, Venice
Chiesa di San Gallo, San Marco, 1103 (Campo San Gallo)
May 9th – November 22nd
Organization: Brooklyn Rail Curatorial Projects
curatorialprojects.brooklynrail.org
Roberto Sebastian Matta. Sculture
Giardino di Palazzo Soranzo Cappello, Soprintendenza BAP per le Province di Venezia, Belluno, Padova e Treviso, Santa Croce, 770 (Fondamenta Rio Marin)
May 9th – November 22nd
Organization: Fondazione Echaurren Salaris
www.fondazioneechaurrensalaris.itwww.maggioregam.com/56Biennale_Matta
Salon Suisse: S.O.S. Dada - The World Is A Mess
Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi, Dorsoduro, 810 (Campo Sant'Agnese)
May 9th; June 4th - 6th; September 10th - 12th; October 15th - 17th; November 19th – 21st
Organization: Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia
www.prohelvetia.chwww.biennials.ch
Sean Scully: Land Sea
Palazzo Falier, San Marco, 2906
May 9th – November 22nd
Organization: Fondazione Volume!
www.fondazionevolume.com
Sepphoris. Alessandro Valeri
Molino Stucky, interior atrium, Giudecca, 812
May 9th – November 22nd
Organization: Assessorato alla Cultura del Comune di Narni(TR); a Sidereal Space of Art; Satellite Berlin
www.sepphorisproject.org
Tesla Revisited
Palazzo Nani Mocenigo, Dorsoduro, 960
May 9th – October 18th
Organization: VITRARIA Glass + A Museum
www.vitraria.com/
The Bridges of Graffiti
Arterminal c/o Terminal San Basilio, Dorsoduro (Fondamenta Zattere al Ponte Lungo)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Associazione Culturale Inossidabile
www.inossidabileac.com
The Dialogue of Fire. Ceramic and Glass Masters from Barcelona to Venice
Palazzo Tiepolo Passi, San Polo, 2774
May 6th - November 22nd
Organization: Fundaciò Artigas; ArsCulture
www.fundacio-artigas.com/www.arsculture.org/www.dialogueoffire.org
The Question of Beings
Istituto Santa Maria della Pietà, Castello, 3701
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei (MoCA, Taipei)
www.mocataipei.org.tw
The Revenge of the Common Place
Università Ca' Foscari, Ca' Bernardo, Dorsoduro, 3199 (Calle Bernardo)
May 9th – September 30th
Organization: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Free University Brussels-VUB)
www.vub.ac.be/
The Silver Lining. Contemporary Art from Liechtenstein and other Microstates
Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi, Dorsoduro, 810 (Campo Sant'Agnese)
October 24th – November 1st
Organization: Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein
www.kunstmuseum.liwww.silverlining.li
The Sound of Creation. Paintings + Music by Beezy Bailey and Brian Eno
Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello, Palazzo Pisani, San Marco, 2810 (Campo Santo Stefano)
May 7th - November 22nd
Organization: ArsCulture
www.arsculture.org/
The Union of Fire and Water
Palazzo Barbaro, San Marco, 2840
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: YARAT Contemporary Art Organisation
www.yarat.azwww.bakuvenice2015.com
Thirty Light Years - Theatre of Chinese Art
Palazzo Rossini, San Marco, 4013 (Campo Manin)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: GAC Global Art Center Foundation; The Guangdong Museum of Art
www.globalartcenter.orgwww.gdmoa.org
Tsang Kin-Wah: The Infinite Nothing, Hong Kong in Venice
Arsenale, Castello, 2126 (Campo della Tana)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: M+, West Kowloon Cultural District; Hong Kong Arts Development Council
www.westkowloon.hk/en/mpluswww.hkadc.org.hkwww.venicebiennale.hk
Under the Surface, Newfoundland and Labrador at Venice
Galleria Ca' Rezzonico, Dorsoduro, 2793
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Terra Nova Art Foundation
tnaf.ca
Ursula von Rydingsvard
Giardino della Marinaressa, Castello (Riva dei Sette Martiri)
May 6th - November 22nd
Organization:Yorkshire Sculpture Park
www.ysp.co.uk
We Must Risk Delight: Twenty Artists from Los Angeles
Magazzino del Sale n. 3, Dorsoduro, 264 (Zattere)
May 7th - November 22nd
Organization: bardoLA
www.bardoLA.org
Wu Tien-Chang: Never Say Goodbye
Palazzo delle Prigioni, Castello, 4209 (San Marco)
May 9th - November 22nd
Organization: Taipei Fine Arts Museum of Taiwan
www.tfam.museum
2-28-2024 Officer Henderson - 5 Year pin The following Muskegon Correctional Facility employees were recently presented with their years-of-service pins by Warden James Schiebner:
•Muskegon Correctional Facility Corrections Officer Gregory Macmaster, 5 years
•Muskegon Correctional Facility Corrections Officer Adrian Henderson, 5 years
•Muskegon Correctional Facility Corrections Officer Nikolaus Crawford, 25 years
07-08-1990 New Signings Tony Gregory, Dave Evans & Paul Futcher 53614832510_b68a36a9b1_b
St Mary, Kemsing, Kent I am mad.
Clearly.
I have all day to travel back home, but here I am , catching the six o'clock ferry from East Cowes, sitting now on the deck, taking photographs as we cast off.
Because I am mad.
I have a couple of places to visit on the way home, so I catch the early ferry, missing breakfast at the hotel. I could have had breakfast and caught the ferry at nine, but that would have meant battling traffic in and out of Newport due to the Floating Bridge being out of action.
So here I am.
Taking shots.
It is the blue hour. Or is it the pink hour in the morning?
I don't know. But sunrise is half an hour away, the engines tone rises, calm water on the river turn to foam, and we move off.
Once the ferry leaves the river, I go back downstairs and buy a coffee and a Twix, then go to the back lounge to see the island blend into the murk of dawn's shadows.
The ferry is only 10% full, so plenty of room to spread out and pretend that there's no other people about. I could have gone back up to snap Southampton in the golden light as the sun had risen, but instead I just sit and wait for the call to return to your cars.
I program the sat nav, so once we were docked and tied up, I was one of the first off, and was soon heading north to the motorway and away from the Southampton rush hour.
Traffic was heavy, but I made good progress, allowing me to stop at Fleet services for breakfast in Costa, before pressing on to the M25 and the chaos that drive east would be.
Traffic much heavier than it was three weeks back, meaning I was half an hour later, which I didn't mind, as the church I planned to visit would be more likely to be unlocked at half nine rather than nine.
West Kent is picturesque, full of pretty villages full of former merchant's houses, now seamlessly turned into what used to be called the stockbroker belt.
Otford was a village, now a suburb of Sevenoaks, the ancient centre of the village is around the pond, and around the edge of the green is the pub and the church.
A parking space outside the papershop offered half an hour's free parking, so I abandoned the car there and limped over the main road to the church, showing well through the bare trees, just waking up as spring arrives.
A modern church centre sits to the north, and having tried the west and south doors, I try going through the church centre, and the doors swing open into the church, no one else was inside.
There was a grand monument, the west wall covered in hatchings and the east window in the Chancel had several Flemish painted panels of saints arranged into a cross.
I take many, many shots.
I am back at the car within the half hour, and a three mile drive away through the rolling countryside is the next target, Kemsing.
We had been here before, but the porch door was locked, but the parish website promised it would be open from nine. And it was.
John Vigar's description stated that access to the Chancel would not be possible, which confused me, but the large arts and crafts recreation of the rood screen, was locked, and the door through the vestry was also out of bounds.
So I took shots through the screen, not ideal, but better than nothing, and I think they came out well.
It was time to go home. So, back in the car I program my phone, and it leads me back to the M20, and from there I know the way.
Lots of trucks and lorries also heading south, but I cruise past them. Its a fine day to be driving, the sun is breaking through the low cloud and mist, making for a pleasant drive.
I have also judged the fuel well, so don't need to refill before stopping at the car hire office.
They give it the once over, I tell them the things which are not working on te brand new car, they make notes, and I am done.
Emma drives me back to St Maggies, dropping me off on Station Road. I walk along to Chez Jelltex, check the garden for new flowers and growth, then go onside.
The cats sleep on, and I am overcome with weariness. MY knee is aching, I am out of painkillers, but massage it, nd its a little better.
I have brunch and a brew, listen to some podcasts, have a shower, unpack the suitcase.
Phew.
It now stays light until gone six, meaning we could have gone for a walk before dinner. But not at the moment. So I cook hash for dinner, which was ten minutes away from being done by the time Jools got home.
So we eat and drink wine.
One day and the weekend will be here.
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A chocolate-box church in a well-maintained churchyard. The nave is twelfth century in date, remodelled in the fourteenth century when the present roof was constructed. The chancel is also early but was reconstructed in the sixteenth century. A north aisle was added in 1890. The character of the church derives almost entirely from the nineteenth-and twentieth-century furnishings with which it is blessed. The rood screen is of the correct proportion and design and in the main dates from 1894 with minimal amounts of old woodwork. The wonderful figures on top are of 1908 and were designed by Sir Ninian Comper - the angels balance on their wheels like unicyclists! Comper also designed the wall paintings in the chancel, the altar, reredos and canopy. In the north aisle is an interesting collection of furnishings. There is a painted tile picture of Kemsing by the Kent artist Donald Maxwell, one of only a handful to survive. The central window is of two bishops and is typical of Comper's work, but it does not carry his usual signature of a strawberry plant. The west window of the north aisle is by Douglas Strachan, 1935, and is an excellent example of his angular figures. By the font is a bronze Arts and Crafts panel of the Virgin and Child by Henry Wilson, the famous turn-of-the-century designer who lived in a neighbouring village and whose work may also be found in the churchyard.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Kemsing
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KEMSING.
THE next parish eastward from Otford is KEMSING, called in the Testa de Nevil, CAMESING, and in the Textus Rossensis, CIMICINGA. (fn. 1) The name of this place seems to have been given to it from some royal camp or fortress, situated here.
THIS PARISH of Kemsing, from its situation, is not much known or frequented, nor is it a pleasant one. It lies partly in the valley and partly on the chalk hills, at a small distance southward from the foot of which the village is situated, at the intersection of the roads from Otford to Ightham, and from the chalk hills to the high road by Seal Chart. Near the centre of it is a water, called St. Edith's well, who was a famous female saint, said to have been born in this parish, and to have wrought many miracles for such as applied to her for relief. (fn. 2) The parish is about two miles square; the soil of it, in the northern part, is mostly chalk, in the southern very fertile, it has about one hundred acres of wood; in the eastern part of it is the seat of Crowdleham, situated near the boundary of the parish of Ightham.
There was a market antiently kept here on a Monday, by grant from king Henry III. which has been long since discontinued, and a fair, which is still kept on Easter Monday. (fn. 3) There was an old knightly family, who took their surname from this place, being called Kempsing, whose coat of arms was, Argent, a sess and chevron, interlaced sable, which was quartered by the Harts of Lullingstone, in right of Peche, who married the heir general of it. (fn. 4)
IN THE SCUTAGE, levied as well on the prelates as the rest of the barons, in the 32d of king Henry II. being the seventh of that reign, towards the expences of the army in Wales. The honour of Kemesing, as it is there called, then being in the king's hands, answered for twenty-nine shillings by the hands of the sheriff of the county. (fn. 5) Soon after which it came into the possession of the earl of Albermarle, who held it of Walter Fitzhelt, as he again did of the king in capite.
In the reign of king John, Baldwin de Betun, who, by favour of king Richard I. had enjoyed the earldom of Albermarle, in Hawis his wife's right, who was daughter land sole heir of William le Gross, earl of Albermarle, was owner of this place, and in the 5th year of that reign granted the lordships of Kemesing, Braborne, and Sutton, in this county, to William Mareschal, earl of Pembroke, with Alice, his sole daughter and heir, in frank marriage. (fn. 6)
In the reign of king John he attached himself closely to the rebellious barons, when his lands were seised on, as escheats to the crown; and this manor, then valued at thirty-six pounds per annum, as appears by the Testa de Nevil, was granted to Fulke de Brent; on the confiscation of whose estates, and the earl's return to his obedience, he again came into possession of it, which happened on the king's death, his father having persuaded him to return to his loyalty once more, and he had many favours conferred on him by king Henry III. in the 7th year of whose reign he had, for his good services against the Welsh, scutage of all his tenants in this and other counties. In the 10th year of that reign, his first wife being dead, he married Alianore, the king's sister, by which he greatly incurred his displeasure; but a reconciliation quickly after taking place, he was again taken into favour, and in the 14th year of that reign had a confirmation of the manors of Kemsing, Braborne, and Sutton, in this county, upon condition, that in case Alianore, his wife, survived him, she should enjoy them during life. (fn. 7) He died possessed of Kemsing in the 15th year of that reign without issue, and lies buried in the Temple church, having his effigies cross legged on his tomb; on which the sheriff of this county had the king's precept to make livery to Alianore, his widow, of those manors. She, after seven years widowhood, remarried Simon de Montford, earl of Leicester, and steward of England, in St. Stephen's chapel, Westminster, the king giving her away with his own hand.
In the 45th year of that reign, the earl of Leicester, heading the discontented barons against the king, continued with them till the battle of Evesham, in the 49th year of it, in which the earl was killed; after whose death, the countess Alianore and her children were forced to forsake England, and she died some time afterwards in the nunnery of Montarges, in France.
In the mean time the four brothers of William earl of Pembroke, successively earls of Pembroke, being dead without issue, their inheritance became divided between the heirs of their five sisters and coheirs; and upon the partition of their interest in the manor of Kemsing, it seems to have become the sole property of Roger, eldest son of Maud the eldest sister, by her husband, Hugh Bigod, earl of Norfolk, (fn. 8) though the time of his coming into the possession of it. I do not find, as Alianore, second wife of William earl of Pembroke, was then living, who was entitled to it for her life.
Roger earl of Norfolk, and marshal of England, who bore for his arms, Per pale or and vert, a lion rampant gules, died of a bruise, which he received at a tour nament, about the 54th of Henry III.'s reign, leaving no issue by Isabel his wife, daughter of William king of Scots; upon which he was succeeded, as earl of Norfolk and marshal of the king's palace, as well as in the possession of this manor, by Roger his nephew, son of Hugh his brother, chief justice of England, (fn. 9) who, in the 7th of king Edward I. claimed, before the justices itinerant, large privileges for this manor; (fn. 10) and afterwards, in the 11th year of that reign, sold it, together with the advowson of this church, to Otho de Grandison, descended of a family, who were of the dukedom of Burgundy, in France, their residence there being called Grandison castle, a man of great account with that prince, who employed him much, and conferred many favours on him.
In the 18th year of that reign, he obtained free warren for all his demesne lands in Kemsing, (fn. 11) and having had summons to parliament among the barons of this realm, he departed this life without issue, leaving William de Grandison, his brother, his next heir; who died possessed of this manor, leaving by his wife, Sibilla, youngest daughter, and one of the coheirs of John de Tregoze, three sons; Peter de Grandison, his eldest son and heir, who, as well as his father, had summons to parliament; John bishop of Exeter; and Otho; and four daughters. (fn. 12)
On his death this manor became the property of Otho, the youngest son, who paid aid for it, in the 20th of king Edward III. as half a knight's fee, which William de Grandison before held in Kemsing of the earl of Leicester. He died possessed of this manor in the 33d year of that reign, (fn. 13) leaving by Beatrix his wife, daughter and coheir of Nicholas Malmains, one son and heir, Thomas, and a daughter, Elizabeth.
Thomas de Grandison, being of full age, had possession granted of this manor, among others; he was afterwards knighted, and died possessed of it in the 50th year of king Edward III. without issue, leaving Margaret his wife surviving, who likewise possessed it at her decease, in the 18th year of king Richard II. After which it came to Sir William de Bryene, or Bryan, who died possessed of it in the 19th year of the same reign, and lies buried in Seale church.
After his death, Sir William Fynes (whose name was originally spelt Fiennes, but about this time came to be written both Fynes and Fenys) became possessed of it, bearing for his arms, Azure, three lions rampant or. He was son of William Fiennes and Joane his wife, third sister and coheir of William de Say; and by Elizabeth his wife, daughter and heir of William Batisford, left issue two sons, Roger and James; from the former of which were descended the several lords Dacre of the south; and from the latter, the viscounts Say and Seale, both which titles are now extinct, (fn. 14) and the present lord Say and Sele.
James, the second son, above mentioned, possessed this manor, and in the 14th of king Henry, VI. was sheriff of this county, and soon afterwards made esquire of the body to that king. In the 24th year of whose reign, being then a knight, he was, by reason that Joane his grandmother was third sister and coheir of William de Say, by a special writ, on March 3d, next year, summoned to Parliament by the title of lord Say and Sele; (fn. 15) and two days afterwards, in consideration of his eminent services, he was, in open parliament, advanced to the dignity of a baron of this realm, by the above title, to him and his heirs male, and in the 27th year of that reign, he had a full confirmation and release of that title from John, lord Clinton, and of the arms of Say, which, on account of his descent from Idonea, the eldest sister of William de Say, might belong to him. In consideration of which he then granted to the lord Clinton, all advowsons of churches, knights fees, &c. which belonged to the latter, by reason of the lordship of Say. (fn. 16)
After which he obtained a grant of the office of constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, to him and his heirs male; was made lord chamberlain, and one of the king's council, and next year lord treasurer of England.
This rise to so high a pitch of honour, increased the hatred of the commons towards him, and served but to make his fall the more sudden and unhappy, for next year they accused him and others in the parliament held at St. Edmunds Bury, of treason, for having ing assented to the release of Anjou, and the delivery of Maine to the French; upon which the king, to appease them, sequestered him from his office of treasurer, and shortly after, on the insurrection of the Kentish men, under Jack Cade, observing their clamour against him, to mitigate it, he committed him prisoner to the tower; shortly after which, this riotous mob entering London, and finding their numbers increase, fetched him thence to Guildhall, and there arraigned him before the lord-mayor, and other the king's justices, notwithstanding his request to be tried by his peers; after which hurrying him to the standard in Cheapside, they cut off his head there, and carried it about on a pole, causing his naked body to be drawn at a horse's tail into Southwark, and there hanged and quartered, though his body was afterwards buried in the church of the Grey Friars, London. (fn. 17)
He left issue, by Emeline Cromer his wife, one son and heir, Sir William Fienes, who was that year, by special writ, summoned to parliament, being seized of an estate tail of the office of constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, by virtue of the patent above-mentioned, to James, his father, his interest in which he soon afterwards sold to Humphry, duke of Buckingham, and his heirs male.
The unhappy contention subsisting at that time between the houses of York and Lancaster for the throne, in which he risqued not only his person, but his whole fortune, brought him into great distresses, and necessitated him to mortgage, and fell the greatest part of his lands. (fn. 18) He married Margaret the daughter and heir of William Wickham, great-grandson of Agnes, sister to William of Wickham, founder of New College, Oxford. The lands of the lord Say being thus alienated the barony lay dormant, and the heirs male of the family were only called Fienes. Henry, his son and heir, though he used the title of lord Say, had never summons to parliament, and it remained unclaimed till the year 1733, when it was claimed by John Twisleton, esq. of Broughton, in Oxfordshire, descended by the female line from the above Sir William Fienes, lord Say and Sele, which claim, though it then failed, was renewed by his son Thomas, who was summoned to parliament as lord Say and Sele, in 1781, and was father to the present Gregory, lord Say and Sele. In the second year of king Edward IV. Sir William Fienes, lord Say and Sele, mentioned above, sold this manor of Kemsing to Sir Geoffry Bulleyn, (fn. 19) a wealthy mercer of London, who had been lord mayor in the 37th year of king Henry VI. whose grandson Thomas, was sheriff of this county in the 3d and 9th years of Henry VIII. and became a man of great note in that reign; for the king in his 3d year made him one of the knights of his body, and afterwards embassador several times to the emperor, and the kings of France and Spain, and in the 17th year of his reign, on account of the great affection which he bore to the lady Anne Bulleyn, his daughter, advanced him to the title of viscount Rochford; and in his 21st year, created him, being then knight of the garter, earl of Wiltshire and Ormond, and made him lord privy seal. (fn. 20) He died in the 30th year of king Henry VIII. possessed of this manor, have ing had by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk, one son, George, executed in his life-time, and two daughters; Anne, wife to king Henry VIII. and Mary, wife of William Carey, esq. of the king's body, and ancestor of the lords Hunsdon, and of the earls of Dover and Monmouth.
George Bulleyn, the son above-mentioned, bearing the title of viscount Rochford in his father's life-time, was, in the 26th year of that reign, made constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, and was much favored by that king, till the time of his change of affection from queen Anne Bulleyn; when the king, to make the path more easy towards the enjoyment of his new passion, in a sudden and unexpected gust of anger, in his 28th year, committed him to the tower, a few days after which, he was arraigned and beheaded, having had no issue, and was buried in St. Peter's chapel in the tower. (fn. 21)
On the death of the earl of Wiltshire without male issue, the king seized on this manor, in right of his late wife, the unfortunate Anne Bulleyn, the earl's elder daughter; and it remained in his hands till the 32d year of his reign, when by his indenture that year, reciting, that as the most noble lady, Anne of Cleves, daugh ter of John, late duke of Cleve, &c. came into his realm of England, on a certain treaty of marriage between himself and the said lady Anne; which marriage, although celebrated in the face of the church, yet was never consummated, for the conditions of it were never performed in due time, and there being other great and important causes, on account of which the convocation of the realm, with assent of the parties, and of the parliament, had declared the marriage to be invalid, there being no prospect of any children from it, notwithstanding which, the said lady was contented to conform to the laws of the realm, and to free herself and her conscience of the said marriage, and to remain at liberty within the realm; therefore the king, considering her high birth and nobility, of his especial grace and favour, granted her, for the maintenance of her noble estate, among other premises, his manors of Hever, Seale, and Kemsing, and his park of Hever, with all their rights, members, and appurtenances, late belonging to Thomas, earl of Wiltshire, deceased, and then in the king's hands; and all messuages, lands and hereditaments whatsoever, in Hever, Seale, and Kemsing, lately purchased by the king of Sir James Bulleyn, and William Bulleyn, clerk, to hold to her during life, so long as she should stay within the realm of England, and not depart out of it, without the licence of the king and his successors, and the king granted the premises free and discharged of all outgoings, rents, pensions, &c. except among others of forty shillings, issuing yearly out of the lands of John Tybolde, called Seale Park. (fn. 22)
¶The lady Ann of Cleves died possessed of these manors and estates in the 4th and 5th year of king Philip and queen Mary, when they reverted again to the crown; where the manors of Seale and Kemsing, and the other premises in those parishes, lay till queen Elizabeth, in her first year, granted them to her kinsman, Sir Henry Carey, whom she had advanced that year to the title of lord Hunsdon, baron of Hunsdon, in Hertfordshire, to hold in capite by knights service. (fn. 23) He was descended of an antient family, seated at Cockington, in Devonshire; one of whom was Sir Robert Carey, who in the beginning of king Henry V's reign, acquired great renown by his encountering and overcoming an Arragonian knight, who had performed many notable feats of arms in different countries, and then came to make trial of his prowess here in England, in a long and doubtful combat in Smithfield; for which he was by the king knighted, and restored to part of his father's inheritance, which had been forfeited. From which time he bore, as by the law of arms he might, the coat armour of the vanquished knight, viz. Argent, on a bend sable, three roses of the field barbed and seeded proper; the present bearing of this family: their antient bearing before this being, Gules, a chevron argent between three swans proper; one of which they still retain for their crest. His son was William Carey, who being in the battle of Tewksbury, in the 10th year of king Edward IV. on the part of the Lancastrians, upon the loss of that day, was taken prisoner, and notwithstanding he was promised a pardon, lost his head.
Kemsing is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Rochester, and deanry of Malling.
The church stands on the north side of the village, and is dedicated to St. Edith, whose image, set up in this church-yard, was greatly frequented for the singular benefits she daily dispensed in preserving corn and grain from blasting, mill-dew, and other harm incident to it. (fn. 32) It is a small church, consisting of only one isle and a chancel, having a pointed steeple at the west end, in which are two bells. There are but few monuments or inscriptions in it, in the chancel there is a grave-stone, with the figure of a man, and an inscription in brass in black letter, for Thomas de Hop, and at the east end a mural monument for Michael Jermin, D. D. obt. August 14, 1659, æt. 70. (fn. 33)
In the year 1397, anno 21 king Richard II. the king granted licence to Guy Mone, to give the advowson of the church of Kemsing to the prior and convent of Bermondsey for ever. (fn. 34) In which year they obtained the pope's bull, (fn. 35) to appropriate it with the chapel of Seale annexed to it, to the use and support of their convent; reserving, nevertheless, out of the fruits, rents, and profits of the church and chapel, for a perpetual vicar to be instituted in it by the ordinary, a fit portion, by which he might be maintained, the episcopal dues be paid, and other burthens incumbent on him might be conveniently borne. (fn. 36)
In consequence of which, John (de Bottlesham) bishop of Rochester, by his instrument, dated Oct. 12, anno 1402, (fn. 37) with the consent of the abbot and convent of Bermondesey, endowed the vicarage of this church as follows:
First, he decreed, that there should be a perpetual vicarage, to be held and possessed as a perpetual ecclesiastical benefice in the church of Kemsing, which he endowed out of the fruits, rents, and profits of the said church and the chapel of Seale; the vicar of which, who should be intitled to it, by the abbot and convent, proprietaries of this church, should be from time to time presented to the bishop and his successors, and inducted by the archdeacon; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent, and their successors, proprietaries of it, in right of the same, should take, have, and freely enjoy, all and every kind of great tythes, viz. of corn, of whatsoever sort it be, and of hay, growing within the bounds and limits, or titheable places of the church and chapel, the tithe of the grange or field of Budirevere within this parish only excepted; and he ordained, that the repair of the chancel of the church, in the walls, glass windows, and roof, and also the paying of all papal and royal tenths and procurations, and the procurations of legates of the apostolic see, of archbishops, bishops, and archdeacons, (the bishop and his church of Rochester being always saved harmless, on account of this appropriation) should belong to the abbot and convent, and their successors, to be paid and performed at their costs and expences; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent, and their successors, should cause forty pence in money, or meat and drink of as much value, to be yearly distributed to, and bestowed on, the poor, and more indigent parishioners of the church of Kemsing, towards their relief and support, out of the profits of the church; and he ordained, that the tithes of the food of all animals, and of pidgeons, and other titheable matters accruing within the rectory, and the straw of the church and chapel, so long as the rectory should remain in the hands of the abbot and convent, and be in no wife let to ferm, should belong to them, as proprietaries of the parish church; but if the same should be let to ferm, then he ordained, that the tithes of the food of animals, &c. as above-mentioned, should belong to the vicar of the vicarage of the same, for the time being, for ever, with this exception however, that if the abbot and convent should let to ferm any of their stock, with the rectory, no tithe should be taken of that stock; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent should cause to be built at their costs and expences, for that time only, a competent dwelling on a part of the glebe and soil of the rectory allotted for that purpose, in which he ordained, that the vicar for the time being should reside; and he ordained, that the portion of the vicar should be as follows: that he should take and have all oblations and obventions of the altar, as well in the parish church of Kemsing, as in the chapel of Seale, and the small tythes, of what kind or nature soever they be, accruing within the parish of the said church and chapel, and the titheable places of the same, and also all great and small tithes whatsoever, in and of the grange or field called Budyrevere, within the bounds and limits of the parish of the church of Kemsing; and he ordained, that the vicar for the time being should have the cure of all and singular the parishioners of the said church and chapel, and that he should find, at his own costs and expences, a proper chaplain to celebrate divine offices in the said chapel, and duly administer the sacraments and ecclesiastical sacramentals in the same, and also the bread, wine, and lights, necessary and accustomed at the celebrating divine offices in the said church and chapel; and, lastly, he pronounced and declared, that the above was a sufficient and competent portion for the vicar, and such as from it he would be able to support himself, to keep hospitality, and conveniently support the burthens incumbent on him. Which endowment was confirmed by the abbot and convent the day after, under their common seal. (fn. 38)
The above appropriation and endowment was confirmed by John Langdon, bishop of Rochester, in 1422, who further ordained, with the consent of the abbot and convent, that no future vicar might have any cause to complain, that he should receive yearly, from the abbot and convent, fourteen shillings of English money, beyond the portion before assigned to him as before-mentioned; and it was then agreed between the bishop and the abbot and convent, that the bishop should receive in future, out of the fruits and profits of the said church and chapel, 6s. 8d. yearly of English money, as an indemnity to the church of Rochester for any injury it might have received, by reason of the appropriation of this church and chapel.
All which was confirmed by the abbot and convent, under their common seal, the day and year abovementioned. (fn. 39)
On the dissolution of the monastery of St. Saviour's, Bermondesey, which happened in the 29th year of king Henry VIII. this church, with the chapel of Seale annexed was surrendered, among the rest of the possessions of that house, into the king's hands, and became part of the possessions of the crown, after which queen Elizabeth granted this rectory to Sir Peter Manwood; in king Charles I's reign, it was in the possession of James Bunce, esq. whose descendant, James Bunce, esq. of Crowdleham, in this parish, is the present owner of it.
But the advowson of the vicarage seems to have been granted, with the manor of Kemsing, to Henry Carey, lord Hunsdon, since which it has continued unalienated, for many generations, the property of the earls and dukes of Dorset, and is now in the possession of his grace John Frederick duke of Dorset.
In the 15th year of king Edward I. this church was valued at fifteen marcs. (fn. 40)
¶By virtue of the commission of enquiry into the value of church livings, in 1650, issuing out of chancery, it was returned, that here was a parsonage and vicarage; the parsonage tithes being about forty pounds per annum, and the glebe land thereunto belonging, worth ten pounds, master Bunce being patron, but it was then sequestered, and that the vicarage, tythes, and house, were worth one hundred pounds per annum; that there was issuing out of the parsonage to the vicar, by composition from the abbot, two pounds per annum, and by the will of master Bunce six pounds per annum, in all eighteen pounds, master Barton then incumbent. (fn. 41)
This vicarage, with Seale annexed, is valued in the king's books at 19l. 13s. 4d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 9s. 4d.
www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol3/pp32-50
St Mary, Kemsing, Kent I am mad.
Clearly.
I have all day to travel back home, but here I am , catching the six o'clock ferry from East Cowes, sitting now on the deck, taking photographs as we cast off.
Because I am mad.
I have a couple of places to visit on the way home, so I catch the early ferry, missing breakfast at the hotel. I could have had breakfast and caught the ferry at nine, but that would have meant battling traffic in and out of Newport due to the Floating Bridge being out of action.
So here I am.
Taking shots.
It is the blue hour. Or is it the pink hour in the morning?
I don't know. But sunrise is half an hour away, the engines tone rises, calm water on the river turn to foam, and we move off.
Once the ferry leaves the river, I go back downstairs and buy a coffee and a Twix, then go to the back lounge to see the island blend into the murk of dawn's shadows.
The ferry is only 10% full, so plenty of room to spread out and pretend that there's no other people about. I could have gone back up to snap Southampton in the golden light as the sun had risen, but instead I just sit and wait for the call to return to your cars.
I program the sat nav, so once we were docked and tied up, I was one of the first off, and was soon heading north to the motorway and away from the Southampton rush hour.
Traffic was heavy, but I made good progress, allowing me to stop at Fleet services for breakfast in Costa, before pressing on to the M25 and the chaos that drive east would be.
Traffic much heavier than it was three weeks back, meaning I was half an hour later, which I didn't mind, as the church I planned to visit would be more likely to be unlocked at half nine rather than nine.
West Kent is picturesque, full of pretty villages full of former merchant's houses, now seamlessly turned into what used to be called the stockbroker belt.
Otford was a village, now a suburb of Sevenoaks, the ancient centre of the village is around the pond, and around the edge of the green is the pub and the church.
A parking space outside the papershop offered half an hour's free parking, so I abandoned the car there and limped over the main road to the church, showing well through the bare trees, just waking up as spring arrives.
A modern church centre sits to the north, and having tried the west and south doors, I try going through the church centre, and the doors swing open into the church, no one else was inside.
There was a grand monument, the west wall covered in hatchings and the east window in the Chancel had several Flemish painted panels of saints arranged into a cross.
I take many, many shots.
I am back at the car within the half hour, and a three mile drive away through the rolling countryside is the next target, Kemsing.
We had been here before, but the porch door was locked, but the parish website promised it would be open from nine. And it was.
John Vigar's description stated that access to the Chancel would not be possible, which confused me, but the large arts and crafts recreation of the rood screen, was locked, and the door through the vestry was also out of bounds.
So I took shots through the screen, not ideal, but better than nothing, and I think they came out well.
It was time to go home. So, back in the car I program my phone, and it leads me back to the M20, and from there I know the way.
Lots of trucks and lorries also heading south, but I cruise past them. Its a fine day to be driving, the sun is breaking through the low cloud and mist, making for a pleasant drive.
I have also judged the fuel well, so don't need to refill before stopping at the car hire office.
They give it the once over, I tell them the things which are not working on te brand new car, they make notes, and I am done.
Emma drives me back to St Maggies, dropping me off on Station Road. I walk along to Chez Jelltex, check the garden for new flowers and growth, then go onside.
The cats sleep on, and I am overcome with weariness. MY knee is aching, I am out of painkillers, but massage it, nd its a little better.
I have brunch and a brew, listen to some podcasts, have a shower, unpack the suitcase.
Phew.
It now stays light until gone six, meaning we could have gone for a walk before dinner. But not at the moment. So I cook hash for dinner, which was ten minutes away from being done by the time Jools got home.
So we eat and drink wine.
One day and the weekend will be here.
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A chocolate-box church in a well-maintained churchyard. The nave is twelfth century in date, remodelled in the fourteenth century when the present roof was constructed. The chancel is also early but was reconstructed in the sixteenth century. A north aisle was added in 1890. The character of the church derives almost entirely from the nineteenth-and twentieth-century furnishings with which it is blessed. The rood screen is of the correct proportion and design and in the main dates from 1894 with minimal amounts of old woodwork. The wonderful figures on top are of 1908 and were designed by Sir Ninian Comper - the angels balance on their wheels like unicyclists! Comper also designed the wall paintings in the chancel, the altar, reredos and canopy. In the north aisle is an interesting collection of furnishings. There is a painted tile picture of Kemsing by the Kent artist Donald Maxwell, one of only a handful to survive. The central window is of two bishops and is typical of Comper's work, but it does not carry his usual signature of a strawberry plant. The west window of the north aisle is by Douglas Strachan, 1935, and is an excellent example of his angular figures. By the font is a bronze Arts and Crafts panel of the Virgin and Child by Henry Wilson, the famous turn-of-the-century designer who lived in a neighbouring village and whose work may also be found in the churchyard.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Kemsing
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KEMSING.
THE next parish eastward from Otford is KEMSING, called in the Testa de Nevil, CAMESING, and in the Textus Rossensis, CIMICINGA. (fn. 1) The name of this place seems to have been given to it from some royal camp or fortress, situated here.
THIS PARISH of Kemsing, from its situation, is not much known or frequented, nor is it a pleasant one. It lies partly in the valley and partly on the chalk hills, at a small distance southward from the foot of which the village is situated, at the intersection of the roads from Otford to Ightham, and from the chalk hills to the high road by Seal Chart. Near the centre of it is a water, called St. Edith's well, who was a famous female saint, said to have been born in this parish, and to have wrought many miracles for such as applied to her for relief. (fn. 2) The parish is about two miles square; the soil of it, in the northern part, is mostly chalk, in the southern very fertile, it has about one hundred acres of wood; in the eastern part of it is the seat of Crowdleham, situated near the boundary of the parish of Ightham.
There was a market antiently kept here on a Monday, by grant from king Henry III. which has been long since discontinued, and a fair, which is still kept on Easter Monday. (fn. 3) There was an old knightly family, who took their surname from this place, being called Kempsing, whose coat of arms was, Argent, a sess and chevron, interlaced sable, which was quartered by the Harts of Lullingstone, in right of Peche, who married the heir general of it. (fn. 4)
IN THE SCUTAGE, levied as well on the prelates as the rest of the barons, in the 32d of king Henry II. being the seventh of that reign, towards the expences of the army in Wales. The honour of Kemesing, as it is there called, then being in the king's hands, answered for twenty-nine shillings by the hands of the sheriff of the county. (fn. 5) Soon after which it came into the possession of the earl of Albermarle, who held it of Walter Fitzhelt, as he again did of the king in capite.
In the reign of king John, Baldwin de Betun, who, by favour of king Richard I. had enjoyed the earldom of Albermarle, in Hawis his wife's right, who was daughter land sole heir of William le Gross, earl of Albermarle, was owner of this place, and in the 5th year of that reign granted the lordships of Kemesing, Braborne, and Sutton, in this county, to William Mareschal, earl of Pembroke, with Alice, his sole daughter and heir, in frank marriage. (fn. 6)
In the reign of king John he attached himself closely to the rebellious barons, when his lands were seised on, as escheats to the crown; and this manor, then valued at thirty-six pounds per annum, as appears by the Testa de Nevil, was granted to Fulke de Brent; on the confiscation of whose estates, and the earl's return to his obedience, he again came into possession of it, which happened on the king's death, his father having persuaded him to return to his loyalty once more, and he had many favours conferred on him by king Henry III. in the 7th year of whose reign he had, for his good services against the Welsh, scutage of all his tenants in this and other counties. In the 10th year of that reign, his first wife being dead, he married Alianore, the king's sister, by which he greatly incurred his displeasure; but a reconciliation quickly after taking place, he was again taken into favour, and in the 14th year of that reign had a confirmation of the manors of Kemsing, Braborne, and Sutton, in this county, upon condition, that in case Alianore, his wife, survived him, she should enjoy them during life. (fn. 7) He died possessed of Kemsing in the 15th year of that reign without issue, and lies buried in the Temple church, having his effigies cross legged on his tomb; on which the sheriff of this county had the king's precept to make livery to Alianore, his widow, of those manors. She, after seven years widowhood, remarried Simon de Montford, earl of Leicester, and steward of England, in St. Stephen's chapel, Westminster, the king giving her away with his own hand.
In the 45th year of that reign, the earl of Leicester, heading the discontented barons against the king, continued with them till the battle of Evesham, in the 49th year of it, in which the earl was killed; after whose death, the countess Alianore and her children were forced to forsake England, and she died some time afterwards in the nunnery of Montarges, in France.
In the mean time the four brothers of William earl of Pembroke, successively earls of Pembroke, being dead without issue, their inheritance became divided between the heirs of their five sisters and coheirs; and upon the partition of their interest in the manor of Kemsing, it seems to have become the sole property of Roger, eldest son of Maud the eldest sister, by her husband, Hugh Bigod, earl of Norfolk, (fn. 8) though the time of his coming into the possession of it. I do not find, as Alianore, second wife of William earl of Pembroke, was then living, who was entitled to it for her life.
Roger earl of Norfolk, and marshal of England, who bore for his arms, Per pale or and vert, a lion rampant gules, died of a bruise, which he received at a tour nament, about the 54th of Henry III.'s reign, leaving no issue by Isabel his wife, daughter of William king of Scots; upon which he was succeeded, as earl of Norfolk and marshal of the king's palace, as well as in the possession of this manor, by Roger his nephew, son of Hugh his brother, chief justice of England, (fn. 9) who, in the 7th of king Edward I. claimed, before the justices itinerant, large privileges for this manor; (fn. 10) and afterwards, in the 11th year of that reign, sold it, together with the advowson of this church, to Otho de Grandison, descended of a family, who were of the dukedom of Burgundy, in France, their residence there being called Grandison castle, a man of great account with that prince, who employed him much, and conferred many favours on him.
In the 18th year of that reign, he obtained free warren for all his demesne lands in Kemsing, (fn. 11) and having had summons to parliament among the barons of this realm, he departed this life without issue, leaving William de Grandison, his brother, his next heir; who died possessed of this manor, leaving by his wife, Sibilla, youngest daughter, and one of the coheirs of John de Tregoze, three sons; Peter de Grandison, his eldest son and heir, who, as well as his father, had summons to parliament; John bishop of Exeter; and Otho; and four daughters. (fn. 12)
On his death this manor became the property of Otho, the youngest son, who paid aid for it, in the 20th of king Edward III. as half a knight's fee, which William de Grandison before held in Kemsing of the earl of Leicester. He died possessed of this manor in the 33d year of that reign, (fn. 13) leaving by Beatrix his wife, daughter and coheir of Nicholas Malmains, one son and heir, Thomas, and a daughter, Elizabeth.
Thomas de Grandison, being of full age, had possession granted of this manor, among others; he was afterwards knighted, and died possessed of it in the 50th year of king Edward III. without issue, leaving Margaret his wife surviving, who likewise possessed it at her decease, in the 18th year of king Richard II. After which it came to Sir William de Bryene, or Bryan, who died possessed of it in the 19th year of the same reign, and lies buried in Seale church.
After his death, Sir William Fynes (whose name was originally spelt Fiennes, but about this time came to be written both Fynes and Fenys) became possessed of it, bearing for his arms, Azure, three lions rampant or. He was son of William Fiennes and Joane his wife, third sister and coheir of William de Say; and by Elizabeth his wife, daughter and heir of William Batisford, left issue two sons, Roger and James; from the former of which were descended the several lords Dacre of the south; and from the latter, the viscounts Say and Seale, both which titles are now extinct, (fn. 14) and the present lord Say and Sele.
James, the second son, above mentioned, possessed this manor, and in the 14th of king Henry, VI. was sheriff of this county, and soon afterwards made esquire of the body to that king. In the 24th year of whose reign, being then a knight, he was, by reason that Joane his grandmother was third sister and coheir of William de Say, by a special writ, on March 3d, next year, summoned to Parliament by the title of lord Say and Sele; (fn. 15) and two days afterwards, in consideration of his eminent services, he was, in open parliament, advanced to the dignity of a baron of this realm, by the above title, to him and his heirs male, and in the 27th year of that reign, he had a full confirmation and release of that title from John, lord Clinton, and of the arms of Say, which, on account of his descent from Idonea, the eldest sister of William de Say, might belong to him. In consideration of which he then granted to the lord Clinton, all advowsons of churches, knights fees, &c. which belonged to the latter, by reason of the lordship of Say. (fn. 16)
After which he obtained a grant of the office of constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, to him and his heirs male; was made lord chamberlain, and one of the king's council, and next year lord treasurer of England.
This rise to so high a pitch of honour, increased the hatred of the commons towards him, and served but to make his fall the more sudden and unhappy, for next year they accused him and others in the parliament held at St. Edmunds Bury, of treason, for having ing assented to the release of Anjou, and the delivery of Maine to the French; upon which the king, to appease them, sequestered him from his office of treasurer, and shortly after, on the insurrection of the Kentish men, under Jack Cade, observing their clamour against him, to mitigate it, he committed him prisoner to the tower; shortly after which, this riotous mob entering London, and finding their numbers increase, fetched him thence to Guildhall, and there arraigned him before the lord-mayor, and other the king's justices, notwithstanding his request to be tried by his peers; after which hurrying him to the standard in Cheapside, they cut off his head there, and carried it about on a pole, causing his naked body to be drawn at a horse's tail into Southwark, and there hanged and quartered, though his body was afterwards buried in the church of the Grey Friars, London. (fn. 17)
He left issue, by Emeline Cromer his wife, one son and heir, Sir William Fienes, who was that year, by special writ, summoned to parliament, being seized of an estate tail of the office of constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, by virtue of the patent above-mentioned, to James, his father, his interest in which he soon afterwards sold to Humphry, duke of Buckingham, and his heirs male.
The unhappy contention subsisting at that time between the houses of York and Lancaster for the throne, in which he risqued not only his person, but his whole fortune, brought him into great distresses, and necessitated him to mortgage, and fell the greatest part of his lands. (fn. 18) He married Margaret the daughter and heir of William Wickham, great-grandson of Agnes, sister to William of Wickham, founder of New College, Oxford. The lands of the lord Say being thus alienated the barony lay dormant, and the heirs male of the family were only called Fienes. Henry, his son and heir, though he used the title of lord Say, had never summons to parliament, and it remained unclaimed till the year 1733, when it was claimed by John Twisleton, esq. of Broughton, in Oxfordshire, descended by the female line from the above Sir William Fienes, lord Say and Sele, which claim, though it then failed, was renewed by his son Thomas, who was summoned to parliament as lord Say and Sele, in 1781, and was father to the present Gregory, lord Say and Sele. In the second year of king Edward IV. Sir William Fienes, lord Say and Sele, mentioned above, sold this manor of Kemsing to Sir Geoffry Bulleyn, (fn. 19) a wealthy mercer of London, who had been lord mayor in the 37th year of king Henry VI. whose grandson Thomas, was sheriff of this county in the 3d and 9th years of Henry VIII. and became a man of great note in that reign; for the king in his 3d year made him one of the knights of his body, and afterwards embassador several times to the emperor, and the kings of France and Spain, and in the 17th year of his reign, on account of the great affection which he bore to the lady Anne Bulleyn, his daughter, advanced him to the title of viscount Rochford; and in his 21st year, created him, being then knight of the garter, earl of Wiltshire and Ormond, and made him lord privy seal. (fn. 20) He died in the 30th year of king Henry VIII. possessed of this manor, have ing had by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk, one son, George, executed in his life-time, and two daughters; Anne, wife to king Henry VIII. and Mary, wife of William Carey, esq. of the king's body, and ancestor of the lords Hunsdon, and of the earls of Dover and Monmouth.
George Bulleyn, the son above-mentioned, bearing the title of viscount Rochford in his father's life-time, was, in the 26th year of that reign, made constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, and was much favored by that king, till the time of his change of affection from queen Anne Bulleyn; when the king, to make the path more easy towards the enjoyment of his new passion, in a sudden and unexpected gust of anger, in his 28th year, committed him to the tower, a few days after which, he was arraigned and beheaded, having had no issue, and was buried in St. Peter's chapel in the tower. (fn. 21)
On the death of the earl of Wiltshire without male issue, the king seized on this manor, in right of his late wife, the unfortunate Anne Bulleyn, the earl's elder daughter; and it remained in his hands till the 32d year of his reign, when by his indenture that year, reciting, that as the most noble lady, Anne of Cleves, daugh ter of John, late duke of Cleve, &c. came into his realm of England, on a certain treaty of marriage between himself and the said lady Anne; which marriage, although celebrated in the face of the church, yet was never consummated, for the conditions of it were never performed in due time, and there being other great and important causes, on account of which the convocation of the realm, with assent of the parties, and of the parliament, had declared the marriage to be invalid, there being no prospect of any children from it, notwithstanding which, the said lady was contented to conform to the laws of the realm, and to free herself and her conscience of the said marriage, and to remain at liberty within the realm; therefore the king, considering her high birth and nobility, of his especial grace and favour, granted her, for the maintenance of her noble estate, among other premises, his manors of Hever, Seale, and Kemsing, and his park of Hever, with all their rights, members, and appurtenances, late belonging to Thomas, earl of Wiltshire, deceased, and then in the king's hands; and all messuages, lands and hereditaments whatsoever, in Hever, Seale, and Kemsing, lately purchased by the king of Sir James Bulleyn, and William Bulleyn, clerk, to hold to her during life, so long as she should stay within the realm of England, and not depart out of it, without the licence of the king and his successors, and the king granted the premises free and discharged of all outgoings, rents, pensions, &c. except among others of forty shillings, issuing yearly out of the lands of John Tybolde, called Seale Park. (fn. 22)
¶The lady Ann of Cleves died possessed of these manors and estates in the 4th and 5th year of king Philip and queen Mary, when they reverted again to the crown; where the manors of Seale and Kemsing, and the other premises in those parishes, lay till queen Elizabeth, in her first year, granted them to her kinsman, Sir Henry Carey, whom she had advanced that year to the title of lord Hunsdon, baron of Hunsdon, in Hertfordshire, to hold in capite by knights service. (fn. 23) He was descended of an antient family, seated at Cockington, in Devonshire; one of whom was Sir Robert Carey, who in the beginning of king Henry V's reign, acquired great renown by his encountering and overcoming an Arragonian knight, who had performed many notable feats of arms in different countries, and then came to make trial of his prowess here in England, in a long and doubtful combat in Smithfield; for which he was by the king knighted, and restored to part of his father's inheritance, which had been forfeited. From which time he bore, as by the law of arms he might, the coat armour of the vanquished knight, viz. Argent, on a bend sable, three roses of the field barbed and seeded proper; the present bearing of this family: their antient bearing before this being, Gules, a chevron argent between three swans proper; one of which they still retain for their crest. His son was William Carey, who being in the battle of Tewksbury, in the 10th year of king Edward IV. on the part of the Lancastrians, upon the loss of that day, was taken prisoner, and notwithstanding he was promised a pardon, lost his head.
Kemsing is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Rochester, and deanry of Malling.
The church stands on the north side of the village, and is dedicated to St. Edith, whose image, set up in this church-yard, was greatly frequented for the singular benefits she daily dispensed in preserving corn and grain from blasting, mill-dew, and other harm incident to it. (fn. 32) It is a small church, consisting of only one isle and a chancel, having a pointed steeple at the west end, in which are two bells. There are but few monuments or inscriptions in it, in the chancel there is a grave-stone, with the figure of a man, and an inscription in brass in black letter, for Thomas de Hop, and at the east end a mural monument for Michael Jermin, D. D. obt. August 14, 1659, æt. 70. (fn. 33)
In the year 1397, anno 21 king Richard II. the king granted licence to Guy Mone, to give the advowson of the church of Kemsing to the prior and convent of Bermondsey for ever. (fn. 34) In which year they obtained the pope's bull, (fn. 35) to appropriate it with the chapel of Seale annexed to it, to the use and support of their convent; reserving, nevertheless, out of the fruits, rents, and profits of the church and chapel, for a perpetual vicar to be instituted in it by the ordinary, a fit portion, by which he might be maintained, the episcopal dues be paid, and other burthens incumbent on him might be conveniently borne. (fn. 36)
In consequence of which, John (de Bottlesham) bishop of Rochester, by his instrument, dated Oct. 12, anno 1402, (fn. 37) with the consent of the abbot and convent of Bermondesey, endowed the vicarage of this church as follows:
First, he decreed, that there should be a perpetual vicarage, to be held and possessed as a perpetual ecclesiastical benefice in the church of Kemsing, which he endowed out of the fruits, rents, and profits of the said church and the chapel of Seale; the vicar of which, who should be intitled to it, by the abbot and convent, proprietaries of this church, should be from time to time presented to the bishop and his successors, and inducted by the archdeacon; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent, and their successors, proprietaries of it, in right of the same, should take, have, and freely enjoy, all and every kind of great tythes, viz. of corn, of whatsoever sort it be, and of hay, growing within the bounds and limits, or titheable places of the church and chapel, the tithe of the grange or field of Budirevere within this parish only excepted; and he ordained, that the repair of the chancel of the church, in the walls, glass windows, and roof, and also the paying of all papal and royal tenths and procurations, and the procurations of legates of the apostolic see, of archbishops, bishops, and archdeacons, (the bishop and his church of Rochester being always saved harmless, on account of this appropriation) should belong to the abbot and convent, and their successors, to be paid and performed at their costs and expences; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent, and their successors, should cause forty pence in money, or meat and drink of as much value, to be yearly distributed to, and bestowed on, the poor, and more indigent parishioners of the church of Kemsing, towards their relief and support, out of the profits of the church; and he ordained, that the tithes of the food of all animals, and of pidgeons, and other titheable matters accruing within the rectory, and the straw of the church and chapel, so long as the rectory should remain in the hands of the abbot and convent, and be in no wife let to ferm, should belong to them, as proprietaries of the parish church; but if the same should be let to ferm, then he ordained, that the tithes of the food of animals, &c. as above-mentioned, should belong to the vicar of the vicarage of the same, for the time being, for ever, with this exception however, that if the abbot and convent should let to ferm any of their stock, with the rectory, no tithe should be taken of that stock; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent should cause to be built at their costs and expences, for that time only, a competent dwelling on a part of the glebe and soil of the rectory allotted for that purpose, in which he ordained, that the vicar for the time being should reside; and he ordained, that the portion of the vicar should be as follows: that he should take and have all oblations and obventions of the altar, as well in the parish church of Kemsing, as in the chapel of Seale, and the small tythes, of what kind or nature soever they be, accruing within the parish of the said church and chapel, and the titheable places of the same, and also all great and small tithes whatsoever, in and of the grange or field called Budyrevere, within the bounds and limits of the parish of the church of Kemsing; and he ordained, that the vicar for the time being should have the cure of all and singular the parishioners of the said church and chapel, and that he should find, at his own costs and expences, a proper chaplain to celebrate divine offices in the said chapel, and duly administer the sacraments and ecclesiastical sacramentals in the same, and also the bread, wine, and lights, necessary and accustomed at the celebrating divine offices in the said church and chapel; and, lastly, he pronounced and declared, that the above was a sufficient and competent portion for the vicar, and such as from it he would be able to support himself, to keep hospitality, and conveniently support the burthens incumbent on him. Which endowment was confirmed by the abbot and convent the day after, under their common seal. (fn. 38)
The above appropriation and endowment was confirmed by John Langdon, bishop of Rochester, in 1422, who further ordained, with the consent of the abbot and convent, that no future vicar might have any cause to complain, that he should receive yearly, from the abbot and convent, fourteen shillings of English money, beyond the portion before assigned to him as before-mentioned; and it was then agreed between the bishop and the abbot and convent, that the bishop should receive in future, out of the fruits and profits of the said church and chapel, 6s. 8d. yearly of English money, as an indemnity to the church of Rochester for any injury it might have received, by reason of the appropriation of this church and chapel.
All which was confirmed by the abbot and convent, under their common seal, the day and year abovementioned. (fn. 39)
On the dissolution of the monastery of St. Saviour's, Bermondesey, which happened in the 29th year of king Henry VIII. this church, with the chapel of Seale annexed was surrendered, among the rest of the possessions of that house, into the king's hands, and became part of the possessions of the crown, after which queen Elizabeth granted this rectory to Sir Peter Manwood; in king Charles I's reign, it was in the possession of James Bunce, esq. whose descendant, James Bunce, esq. of Crowdleham, in this parish, is the present owner of it.
But the advowson of the vicarage seems to have been granted, with the manor of Kemsing, to Henry Carey, lord Hunsdon, since which it has continued unalienated, for many generations, the property of the earls and dukes of Dorset, and is now in the possession of his grace John Frederick duke of Dorset.
In the 15th year of king Edward I. this church was valued at fifteen marcs. (fn. 40)
¶By virtue of the commission of enquiry into the value of church livings, in 1650, issuing out of chancery, it was returned, that here was a parsonage and vicarage; the parsonage tithes being about forty pounds per annum, and the glebe land thereunto belonging, worth ten pounds, master Bunce being patron, but it was then sequestered, and that the vicarage, tythes, and house, were worth one hundred pounds per annum; that there was issuing out of the parsonage to the vicar, by composition from the abbot, two pounds per annum, and by the will of master Bunce six pounds per annum, in all eighteen pounds, master Barton then incumbent. (fn. 41)
This vicarage, with Seale annexed, is valued in the king's books at 19l. 13s. 4d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 9s. 4d.
www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol3/pp32-50
St Mary, Kemsing, Kent I am mad.
Clearly.
I have all day to travel back home, but here I am , catching the six o'clock ferry from East Cowes, sitting now on the deck, taking photographs as we cast off.
Because I am mad.
I have a couple of places to visit on the way home, so I catch the early ferry, missing breakfast at the hotel. I could have had breakfast and caught the ferry at nine, but that would have meant battling traffic in and out of Newport due to the Floating Bridge being out of action.
So here I am.
Taking shots.
It is the blue hour. Or is it the pink hour in the morning?
I don't know. But sunrise is half an hour away, the engines tone rises, calm water on the river turn to foam, and we move off.
Once the ferry leaves the river, I go back downstairs and buy a coffee and a Twix, then go to the back lounge to see the island blend into the murk of dawn's shadows.
The ferry is only 10% full, so plenty of room to spread out and pretend that there's no other people about. I could have gone back up to snap Southampton in the golden light as the sun had risen, but instead I just sit and wait for the call to return to your cars.
I program the sat nav, so once we were docked and tied up, I was one of the first off, and was soon heading north to the motorway and away from the Southampton rush hour.
Traffic was heavy, but I made good progress, allowing me to stop at Fleet services for breakfast in Costa, before pressing on to the M25 and the chaos that drive east would be.
Traffic much heavier than it was three weeks back, meaning I was half an hour later, which I didn't mind, as the church I planned to visit would be more likely to be unlocked at half nine rather than nine.
West Kent is picturesque, full of pretty villages full of former merchant's houses, now seamlessly turned into what used to be called the stockbroker belt.
Otford was a village, now a suburb of Sevenoaks, the ancient centre of the village is around the pond, and around the edge of the green is the pub and the church.
A parking space outside the papershop offered half an hour's free parking, so I abandoned the car there and limped over the main road to the church, showing well through the bare trees, just waking up as spring arrives.
A modern church centre sits to the north, and having tried the west and south doors, I try going through the church centre, and the doors swing open into the church, no one else was inside.
There was a grand monument, the west wall covered in hatchings and the east window in the Chancel had several Flemish painted panels of saints arranged into a cross.
I take many, many shots.
I am back at the car within the half hour, and a three mile drive away through the rolling countryside is the next target, Kemsing.
We had been here before, but the porch door was locked, but the parish website promised it would be open from nine. And it was.
John Vigar's description stated that access to the Chancel would not be possible, which confused me, but the large arts and crafts recreation of the rood screen, was locked, and the door through the vestry was also out of bounds.
So I took shots through the screen, not ideal, but better than nothing, and I think they came out well.
It was time to go home. So, back in the car I program my phone, and it leads me back to the M20, and from there I know the way.
Lots of trucks and lorries also heading south, but I cruise past them. Its a fine day to be driving, the sun is breaking through the low cloud and mist, making for a pleasant drive.
I have also judged the fuel well, so don't need to refill before stopping at the car hire office.
They give it the once over, I tell them the things which are not working on te brand new car, they make notes, and I am done.
Emma drives me back to St Maggies, dropping me off on Station Road. I walk along to Chez Jelltex, check the garden for new flowers and growth, then go onside.
The cats sleep on, and I am overcome with weariness. MY knee is aching, I am out of painkillers, but massage it, nd its a little better.
I have brunch and a brew, listen to some podcasts, have a shower, unpack the suitcase.
Phew.
It now stays light until gone six, meaning we could have gone for a walk before dinner. But not at the moment. So I cook hash for dinner, which was ten minutes away from being done by the time Jools got home.
So we eat and drink wine.
One day and the weekend will be here.
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A chocolate-box church in a well-maintained churchyard. The nave is twelfth century in date, remodelled in the fourteenth century when the present roof was constructed. The chancel is also early but was reconstructed in the sixteenth century. A north aisle was added in 1890. The character of the church derives almost entirely from the nineteenth-and twentieth-century furnishings with which it is blessed. The rood screen is of the correct proportion and design and in the main dates from 1894 with minimal amounts of old woodwork. The wonderful figures on top are of 1908 and were designed by Sir Ninian Comper - the angels balance on their wheels like unicyclists! Comper also designed the wall paintings in the chancel, the altar, reredos and canopy. In the north aisle is an interesting collection of furnishings. There is a painted tile picture of Kemsing by the Kent artist Donald Maxwell, one of only a handful to survive. The central window is of two bishops and is typical of Comper's work, but it does not carry his usual signature of a strawberry plant. The west window of the north aisle is by Douglas Strachan, 1935, and is an excellent example of his angular figures. By the font is a bronze Arts and Crafts panel of the Virgin and Child by Henry Wilson, the famous turn-of-the-century designer who lived in a neighbouring village and whose work may also be found in the churchyard.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Kemsing
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KEMSING.
THE next parish eastward from Otford is KEMSING, called in the Testa de Nevil, CAMESING, and in the Textus Rossensis, CIMICINGA. (fn. 1) The name of this place seems to have been given to it from some royal camp or fortress, situated here.
THIS PARISH of Kemsing, from its situation, is not much known or frequented, nor is it a pleasant one. It lies partly in the valley and partly on the chalk hills, at a small distance southward from the foot of which the village is situated, at the intersection of the roads from Otford to Ightham, and from the chalk hills to the high road by Seal Chart. Near the centre of it is a water, called St. Edith's well, who was a famous female saint, said to have been born in this parish, and to have wrought many miracles for such as applied to her for relief. (fn. 2) The parish is about two miles square; the soil of it, in the northern part, is mostly chalk, in the southern very fertile, it has about one hundred acres of wood; in the eastern part of it is the seat of Crowdleham, situated near the boundary of the parish of Ightham.
There was a market antiently kept here on a Monday, by grant from king Henry III. which has been long since discontinued, and a fair, which is still kept on Easter Monday. (fn. 3) There was an old knightly family, who took their surname from this place, being called Kempsing, whose coat of arms was, Argent, a sess and chevron, interlaced sable, which was quartered by the Harts of Lullingstone, in right of Peche, who married the heir general of it. (fn. 4)
IN THE SCUTAGE, levied as well on the prelates as the rest of the barons, in the 32d of king Henry II. being the seventh of that reign, towards the expences of the army in Wales. The honour of Kemesing, as it is there called, then being in the king's hands, answered for twenty-nine shillings by the hands of the sheriff of the county. (fn. 5) Soon after which it came into the possession of the earl of Albermarle, who held it of Walter Fitzhelt, as he again did of the king in capite.
In the reign of king John, Baldwin de Betun, who, by favour of king Richard I. had enjoyed the earldom of Albermarle, in Hawis his wife's right, who was daughter land sole heir of William le Gross, earl of Albermarle, was owner of this place, and in the 5th year of that reign granted the lordships of Kemesing, Braborne, and Sutton, in this county, to William Mareschal, earl of Pembroke, with Alice, his sole daughter and heir, in frank marriage. (fn. 6)
In the reign of king John he attached himself closely to the rebellious barons, when his lands were seised on, as escheats to the crown; and this manor, then valued at thirty-six pounds per annum, as appears by the Testa de Nevil, was granted to Fulke de Brent; on the confiscation of whose estates, and the earl's return to his obedience, he again came into possession of it, which happened on the king's death, his father having persuaded him to return to his loyalty once more, and he had many favours conferred on him by king Henry III. in the 7th year of whose reign he had, for his good services against the Welsh, scutage of all his tenants in this and other counties. In the 10th year of that reign, his first wife being dead, he married Alianore, the king's sister, by which he greatly incurred his displeasure; but a reconciliation quickly after taking place, he was again taken into favour, and in the 14th year of that reign had a confirmation of the manors of Kemsing, Braborne, and Sutton, in this county, upon condition, that in case Alianore, his wife, survived him, she should enjoy them during life. (fn. 7) He died possessed of Kemsing in the 15th year of that reign without issue, and lies buried in the Temple church, having his effigies cross legged on his tomb; on which the sheriff of this county had the king's precept to make livery to Alianore, his widow, of those manors. She, after seven years widowhood, remarried Simon de Montford, earl of Leicester, and steward of England, in St. Stephen's chapel, Westminster, the king giving her away with his own hand.
In the 45th year of that reign, the earl of Leicester, heading the discontented barons against the king, continued with them till the battle of Evesham, in the 49th year of it, in which the earl was killed; after whose death, the countess Alianore and her children were forced to forsake England, and she died some time afterwards in the nunnery of Montarges, in France.
In the mean time the four brothers of William earl of Pembroke, successively earls of Pembroke, being dead without issue, their inheritance became divided between the heirs of their five sisters and coheirs; and upon the partition of their interest in the manor of Kemsing, it seems to have become the sole property of Roger, eldest son of Maud the eldest sister, by her husband, Hugh Bigod, earl of Norfolk, (fn. 8) though the time of his coming into the possession of it. I do not find, as Alianore, second wife of William earl of Pembroke, was then living, who was entitled to it for her life.
Roger earl of Norfolk, and marshal of England, who bore for his arms, Per pale or and vert, a lion rampant gules, died of a bruise, which he received at a tour nament, about the 54th of Henry III.'s reign, leaving no issue by Isabel his wife, daughter of William king of Scots; upon which he was succeeded, as earl of Norfolk and marshal of the king's palace, as well as in the possession of this manor, by Roger his nephew, son of Hugh his brother, chief justice of England, (fn. 9) who, in the 7th of king Edward I. claimed, before the justices itinerant, large privileges for this manor; (fn. 10) and afterwards, in the 11th year of that reign, sold it, together with the advowson of this church, to Otho de Grandison, descended of a family, who were of the dukedom of Burgundy, in France, their residence there being called Grandison castle, a man of great account with that prince, who employed him much, and conferred many favours on him.
In the 18th year of that reign, he obtained free warren for all his demesne lands in Kemsing, (fn. 11) and having had summons to parliament among the barons of this realm, he departed this life without issue, leaving William de Grandison, his brother, his next heir; who died possessed of this manor, leaving by his wife, Sibilla, youngest daughter, and one of the coheirs of John de Tregoze, three sons; Peter de Grandison, his eldest son and heir, who, as well as his father, had summons to parliament; John bishop of Exeter; and Otho; and four daughters. (fn. 12)
On his death this manor became the property of Otho, the youngest son, who paid aid for it, in the 20th of king Edward III. as half a knight's fee, which William de Grandison before held in Kemsing of the earl of Leicester. He died possessed of this manor in the 33d year of that reign, (fn. 13) leaving by Beatrix his wife, daughter and coheir of Nicholas Malmains, one son and heir, Thomas, and a daughter, Elizabeth.
Thomas de Grandison, being of full age, had possession granted of this manor, among others; he was afterwards knighted, and died possessed of it in the 50th year of king Edward III. without issue, leaving Margaret his wife surviving, who likewise possessed it at her decease, in the 18th year of king Richard II. After which it came to Sir William de Bryene, or Bryan, who died possessed of it in the 19th year of the same reign, and lies buried in Seale church.
After his death, Sir William Fynes (whose name was originally spelt Fiennes, but about this time came to be written both Fynes and Fenys) became possessed of it, bearing for his arms, Azure, three lions rampant or. He was son of William Fiennes and Joane his wife, third sister and coheir of William de Say; and by Elizabeth his wife, daughter and heir of William Batisford, left issue two sons, Roger and James; from the former of which were descended the several lords Dacre of the south; and from the latter, the viscounts Say and Seale, both which titles are now extinct, (fn. 14) and the present lord Say and Sele.
James, the second son, above mentioned, possessed this manor, and in the 14th of king Henry, VI. was sheriff of this county, and soon afterwards made esquire of the body to that king. In the 24th year of whose reign, being then a knight, he was, by reason that Joane his grandmother was third sister and coheir of William de Say, by a special writ, on March 3d, next year, summoned to Parliament by the title of lord Say and Sele; (fn. 15) and two days afterwards, in consideration of his eminent services, he was, in open parliament, advanced to the dignity of a baron of this realm, by the above title, to him and his heirs male, and in the 27th year of that reign, he had a full confirmation and release of that title from John, lord Clinton, and of the arms of Say, which, on account of his descent from Idonea, the eldest sister of William de Say, might belong to him. In consideration of which he then granted to the lord Clinton, all advowsons of churches, knights fees, &c. which belonged to the latter, by reason of the lordship of Say. (fn. 16)
After which he obtained a grant of the office of constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, to him and his heirs male; was made lord chamberlain, and one of the king's council, and next year lord treasurer of England.
This rise to so high a pitch of honour, increased the hatred of the commons towards him, and served but to make his fall the more sudden and unhappy, for next year they accused him and others in the parliament held at St. Edmunds Bury, of treason, for having ing assented to the release of Anjou, and the delivery of Maine to the French; upon which the king, to appease them, sequestered him from his office of treasurer, and shortly after, on the insurrection of the Kentish men, under Jack Cade, observing their clamour against him, to mitigate it, he committed him prisoner to the tower; shortly after which, this riotous mob entering London, and finding their numbers increase, fetched him thence to Guildhall, and there arraigned him before the lord-mayor, and other the king's justices, notwithstanding his request to be tried by his peers; after which hurrying him to the standard in Cheapside, they cut off his head there, and carried it about on a pole, causing his naked body to be drawn at a horse's tail into Southwark, and there hanged and quartered, though his body was afterwards buried in the church of the Grey Friars, London. (fn. 17)
He left issue, by Emeline Cromer his wife, one son and heir, Sir William Fienes, who was that year, by special writ, summoned to parliament, being seized of an estate tail of the office of constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, by virtue of the patent above-mentioned, to James, his father, his interest in which he soon afterwards sold to Humphry, duke of Buckingham, and his heirs male.
The unhappy contention subsisting at that time between the houses of York and Lancaster for the throne, in which he risqued not only his person, but his whole fortune, brought him into great distresses, and necessitated him to mortgage, and fell the greatest part of his lands. (fn. 18) He married Margaret the daughter and heir of William Wickham, great-grandson of Agnes, sister to William of Wickham, founder of New College, Oxford. The lands of the lord Say being thus alienated the barony lay dormant, and the heirs male of the family were only called Fienes. Henry, his son and heir, though he used the title of lord Say, had never summons to parliament, and it remained unclaimed till the year 1733, when it was claimed by John Twisleton, esq. of Broughton, in Oxfordshire, descended by the female line from the above Sir William Fienes, lord Say and Sele, which claim, though it then failed, was renewed by his son Thomas, who was summoned to parliament as lord Say and Sele, in 1781, and was father to the present Gregory, lord Say and Sele. In the second year of king Edward IV. Sir William Fienes, lord Say and Sele, mentioned above, sold this manor of Kemsing to Sir Geoffry Bulleyn, (fn. 19) a wealthy mercer of London, who had been lord mayor in the 37th year of king Henry VI. whose grandson Thomas, was sheriff of this county in the 3d and 9th years of Henry VIII. and became a man of great note in that reign; for the king in his 3d year made him one of the knights of his body, and afterwards embassador several times to the emperor, and the kings of France and Spain, and in the 17th year of his reign, on account of the great affection which he bore to the lady Anne Bulleyn, his daughter, advanced him to the title of viscount Rochford; and in his 21st year, created him, being then knight of the garter, earl of Wiltshire and Ormond, and made him lord privy seal. (fn. 20) He died in the 30th year of king Henry VIII. possessed of this manor, have ing had by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk, one son, George, executed in his life-time, and two daughters; Anne, wife to king Henry VIII. and Mary, wife of William Carey, esq. of the king's body, and ancestor of the lords Hunsdon, and of the earls of Dover and Monmouth.
George Bulleyn, the son above-mentioned, bearing the title of viscount Rochford in his father's life-time, was, in the 26th year of that reign, made constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, and was much favored by that king, till the time of his change of affection from queen Anne Bulleyn; when the king, to make the path more easy towards the enjoyment of his new passion, in a sudden and unexpected gust of anger, in his 28th year, committed him to the tower, a few days after which, he was arraigned and beheaded, having had no issue, and was buried in St. Peter's chapel in the tower. (fn. 21)
On the death of the earl of Wiltshire without male issue, the king seized on this manor, in right of his late wife, the unfortunate Anne Bulleyn, the earl's elder daughter; and it remained in his hands till the 32d year of his reign, when by his indenture that year, reciting, that as the most noble lady, Anne of Cleves, daugh ter of John, late duke of Cleve, &c. came into his realm of England, on a certain treaty of marriage between himself and the said lady Anne; which marriage, although celebrated in the face of the church, yet was never consummated, for the conditions of it were never performed in due time, and there being other great and important causes, on account of which the convocation of the realm, with assent of the parties, and of the parliament, had declared the marriage to be invalid, there being no prospect of any children from it, notwithstanding which, the said lady was contented to conform to the laws of the realm, and to free herself and her conscience of the said marriage, and to remain at liberty within the realm; therefore the king, considering her high birth and nobility, of his especial grace and favour, granted her, for the maintenance of her noble estate, among other premises, his manors of Hever, Seale, and Kemsing, and his park of Hever, with all their rights, members, and appurtenances, late belonging to Thomas, earl of Wiltshire, deceased, and then in the king's hands; and all messuages, lands and hereditaments whatsoever, in Hever, Seale, and Kemsing, lately purchased by the king of Sir James Bulleyn, and William Bulleyn, clerk, to hold to her during life, so long as she should stay within the realm of England, and not depart out of it, without the licence of the king and his successors, and the king granted the premises free and discharged of all outgoings, rents, pensions, &c. except among others of forty shillings, issuing yearly out of the lands of John Tybolde, called Seale Park. (fn. 22)
¶The lady Ann of Cleves died possessed of these manors and estates in the 4th and 5th year of king Philip and queen Mary, when they reverted again to the crown; where the manors of Seale and Kemsing, and the other premises in those parishes, lay till queen Elizabeth, in her first year, granted them to her kinsman, Sir Henry Carey, whom she had advanced that year to the title of lord Hunsdon, baron of Hunsdon, in Hertfordshire, to hold in capite by knights service. (fn. 23) He was descended of an antient family, seated at Cockington, in Devonshire; one of whom was Sir Robert Carey, who in the beginning of king Henry V's reign, acquired great renown by his encountering and overcoming an Arragonian knight, who had performed many notable feats of arms in different countries, and then came to make trial of his prowess here in England, in a long and doubtful combat in Smithfield; for which he was by the king knighted, and restored to part of his father's inheritance, which had been forfeited. From which time he bore, as by the law of arms he might, the coat armour of the vanquished knight, viz. Argent, on a bend sable, three roses of the field barbed and seeded proper; the present bearing of this family: their antient bearing before this being, Gules, a chevron argent between three swans proper; one of which they still retain for their crest. His son was William Carey, who being in the battle of Tewksbury, in the 10th year of king Edward IV. on the part of the Lancastrians, upon the loss of that day, was taken prisoner, and notwithstanding he was promised a pardon, lost his head.
Kemsing is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Rochester, and deanry of Malling.
The church stands on the north side of the village, and is dedicated to St. Edith, whose image, set up in this church-yard, was greatly frequented for the singular benefits she daily dispensed in preserving corn and grain from blasting, mill-dew, and other harm incident to it. (fn. 32) It is a small church, consisting of only one isle and a chancel, having a pointed steeple at the west end, in which are two bells. There are but few monuments or inscriptions in it, in the chancel there is a grave-stone, with the figure of a man, and an inscription in brass in black letter, for Thomas de Hop, and at the east end a mural monument for Michael Jermin, D. D. obt. August 14, 1659, æt. 70. (fn. 33)
In the year 1397, anno 21 king Richard II. the king granted licence to Guy Mone, to give the advowson of the church of Kemsing to the prior and convent of Bermondsey for ever. (fn. 34) In which year they obtained the pope's bull, (fn. 35) to appropriate it with the chapel of Seale annexed to it, to the use and support of their convent; reserving, nevertheless, out of the fruits, rents, and profits of the church and chapel, for a perpetual vicar to be instituted in it by the ordinary, a fit portion, by which he might be maintained, the episcopal dues be paid, and other burthens incumbent on him might be conveniently borne. (fn. 36)
In consequence of which, John (de Bottlesham) bishop of Rochester, by his instrument, dated Oct. 12, anno 1402, (fn. 37) with the consent of the abbot and convent of Bermondesey, endowed the vicarage of this church as follows:
First, he decreed, that there should be a perpetual vicarage, to be held and possessed as a perpetual ecclesiastical benefice in the church of Kemsing, which he endowed out of the fruits, rents, and profits of the said church and the chapel of Seale; the vicar of which, who should be intitled to it, by the abbot and convent, proprietaries of this church, should be from time to time presented to the bishop and his successors, and inducted by the archdeacon; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent, and their successors, proprietaries of it, in right of the same, should take, have, and freely enjoy, all and every kind of great tythes, viz. of corn, of whatsoever sort it be, and of hay, growing within the bounds and limits, or titheable places of the church and chapel, the tithe of the grange or field of Budirevere within this parish only excepted; and he ordained, that the repair of the chancel of the church, in the walls, glass windows, and roof, and also the paying of all papal and royal tenths and procurations, and the procurations of legates of the apostolic see, of archbishops, bishops, and archdeacons, (the bishop and his church of Rochester being always saved harmless, on account of this appropriation) should belong to the abbot and convent, and their successors, to be paid and performed at their costs and expences; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent, and their successors, should cause forty pence in money, or meat and drink of as much value, to be yearly distributed to, and bestowed on, the poor, and more indigent parishioners of the church of Kemsing, towards their relief and support, out of the profits of the church; and he ordained, that the tithes of the food of all animals, and of pidgeons, and other titheable matters accruing within the rectory, and the straw of the church and chapel, so long as the rectory should remain in the hands of the abbot and convent, and be in no wife let to ferm, should belong to them, as proprietaries of the parish church; but if the same should be let to ferm, then he ordained, that the tithes of the food of animals, &c. as above-mentioned, should belong to the vicar of the vicarage of the same, for the time being, for ever, with this exception however, that if the abbot and convent should let to ferm any of their stock, with the rectory, no tithe should be taken of that stock; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent should cause to be built at their costs and expences, for that time only, a competent dwelling on a part of the glebe and soil of the rectory allotted for that purpose, in which he ordained, that the vicar for the time being should reside; and he ordained, that the portion of the vicar should be as follows: that he should take and have all oblations and obventions of the altar, as well in the parish church of Kemsing, as in the chapel of Seale, and the small tythes, of what kind or nature soever they be, accruing within the parish of the said church and chapel, and the titheable places of the same, and also all great and small tithes whatsoever, in and of the grange or field called Budyrevere, within the bounds and limits of the parish of the church of Kemsing; and he ordained, that the vicar for the time being should have the cure of all and singular the parishioners of the said church and chapel, and that he should find, at his own costs and expences, a proper chaplain to celebrate divine offices in the said chapel, and duly administer the sacraments and ecclesiastical sacramentals in the same, and also the bread, wine, and lights, necessary and accustomed at the celebrating divine offices in the said church and chapel; and, lastly, he pronounced and declared, that the above was a sufficient and competent portion for the vicar, and such as from it he would be able to support himself, to keep hospitality, and conveniently support the burthens incumbent on him. Which endowment was confirmed by the abbot and convent the day after, under their common seal. (fn. 38)
The above appropriation and endowment was confirmed by John Langdon, bishop of Rochester, in 1422, who further ordained, with the consent of the abbot and convent, that no future vicar might have any cause to complain, that he should receive yearly, from the abbot and convent, fourteen shillings of English money, beyond the portion before assigned to him as before-mentioned; and it was then agreed between the bishop and the abbot and convent, that the bishop should receive in future, out of the fruits and profits of the said church and chapel, 6s. 8d. yearly of English money, as an indemnity to the church of Rochester for any injury it might have received, by reason of the appropriation of this church and chapel.
All which was confirmed by the abbot and convent, under their common seal, the day and year abovementioned. (fn. 39)
On the dissolution of the monastery of St. Saviour's, Bermondesey, which happened in the 29th year of king Henry VIII. this church, with the chapel of Seale annexed was surrendered, among the rest of the possessions of that house, into the king's hands, and became part of the possessions of the crown, after which queen Elizabeth granted this rectory to Sir Peter Manwood; in king Charles I's reign, it was in the possession of James Bunce, esq. whose descendant, James Bunce, esq. of Crowdleham, in this parish, is the present owner of it.
But the advowson of the vicarage seems to have been granted, with the manor of Kemsing, to Henry Carey, lord Hunsdon, since which it has continued unalienated, for many generations, the property of the earls and dukes of Dorset, and is now in the possession of his grace John Frederick duke of Dorset.
In the 15th year of king Edward I. this church was valued at fifteen marcs. (fn. 40)
¶By virtue of the commission of enquiry into the value of church livings, in 1650, issuing out of chancery, it was returned, that here was a parsonage and vicarage; the parsonage tithes being about forty pounds per annum, and the glebe land thereunto belonging, worth ten pounds, master Bunce being patron, but it was then sequestered, and that the vicarage, tythes, and house, were worth one hundred pounds per annum; that there was issuing out of the parsonage to the vicar, by composition from the abbot, two pounds per annum, and by the will of master Bunce six pounds per annum, in all eighteen pounds, master Barton then incumbent. (fn. 41)
This vicarage, with Seale annexed, is valued in the king's books at 19l. 13s. 4d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 9s. 4d.
www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol3/pp32-50
St Mary, Kemsing, Kent I am mad.
Clearly.
I have all day to travel back home, but here I am , catching the six o'clock ferry from East Cowes, sitting now on the deck, taking photographs as we cast off.
Because I am mad.
I have a couple of places to visit on the way home, so I catch the early ferry, missing breakfast at the hotel. I could have had breakfast and caught the ferry at nine, but that would have meant battling traffic in and out of Newport due to the Floating Bridge being out of action.
So here I am.
Taking shots.
It is the blue hour. Or is it the pink hour in the morning?
I don't know. But sunrise is half an hour away, the engines tone rises, calm water on the river turn to foam, and we move off.
Once the ferry leaves the river, I go back downstairs and buy a coffee and a Twix, then go to the back lounge to see the island blend into the murk of dawn's shadows.
The ferry is only 10% full, so plenty of room to spread out and pretend that there's no other people about. I could have gone back up to snap Southampton in the golden light as the sun had risen, but instead I just sit and wait for the call to return to your cars.
I program the sat nav, so once we were docked and tied up, I was one of the first off, and was soon heading north to the motorway and away from the Southampton rush hour.
Traffic was heavy, but I made good progress, allowing me to stop at Fleet services for breakfast in Costa, before pressing on to the M25 and the chaos that drive east would be.
Traffic much heavier than it was three weeks back, meaning I was half an hour later, which I didn't mind, as the church I planned to visit would be more likely to be unlocked at half nine rather than nine.
West Kent is picturesque, full of pretty villages full of former merchant's houses, now seamlessly turned into what used to be called the stockbroker belt.
Otford was a village, now a suburb of Sevenoaks, the ancient centre of the village is around the pond, and around the edge of the green is the pub and the church.
A parking space outside the papershop offered half an hour's free parking, so I abandoned the car there and limped over the main road to the church, showing well through the bare trees, just waking up as spring arrives.
A modern church centre sits to the north, and having tried the west and south doors, I try going through the church centre, and the doors swing open into the church, no one else was inside.
There was a grand monument, the west wall covered in hatchings and the east window in the Chancel had several Flemish painted panels of saints arranged into a cross.
I take many, many shots.
I am back at the car within the half hour, and a three mile drive away through the rolling countryside is the next target, Kemsing.
We had been here before, but the porch door was locked, but the parish website promised it would be open from nine. And it was.
John Vigar's description stated that access to the Chancel would not be possible, which confused me, but the large arts and crafts recreation of the rood screen, was locked, and the door through the vestry was also out of bounds.
So I took shots through the screen, not ideal, but better than nothing, and I think they came out well.
It was time to go home. So, back in the car I program my phone, and it leads me back to the M20, and from there I know the way.
Lots of trucks and lorries also heading south, but I cruise past them. Its a fine day to be driving, the sun is breaking through the low cloud and mist, making for a pleasant drive.
I have also judged the fuel well, so don't need to refill before stopping at the car hire office.
They give it the once over, I tell them the things which are not working on te brand new car, they make notes, and I am done.
Emma drives me back to St Maggies, dropping me off on Station Road. I walk along to Chez Jelltex, check the garden for new flowers and growth, then go onside.
The cats sleep on, and I am overcome with weariness. MY knee is aching, I am out of painkillers, but massage it, nd its a little better.
I have brunch and a brew, listen to some podcasts, have a shower, unpack the suitcase.
Phew.
It now stays light until gone six, meaning we could have gone for a walk before dinner. But not at the moment. So I cook hash for dinner, which was ten minutes away from being done by the time Jools got home.
So we eat and drink wine.
One day and the weekend will be here.
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A chocolate-box church in a well-maintained churchyard. The nave is twelfth century in date, remodelled in the fourteenth century when the present roof was constructed. The chancel is also early but was reconstructed in the sixteenth century. A north aisle was added in 1890. The character of the church derives almost entirely from the nineteenth-and twentieth-century furnishings with which it is blessed. The rood screen is of the correct proportion and design and in the main dates from 1894 with minimal amounts of old woodwork. The wonderful figures on top are of 1908 and were designed by Sir Ninian Comper - the angels balance on their wheels like unicyclists! Comper also designed the wall paintings in the chancel, the altar, reredos and canopy. In the north aisle is an interesting collection of furnishings. There is a painted tile picture of Kemsing by the Kent artist Donald Maxwell, one of only a handful to survive. The central window is of two bishops and is typical of Comper's work, but it does not carry his usual signature of a strawberry plant. The west window of the north aisle is by Douglas Strachan, 1935, and is an excellent example of his angular figures. By the font is a bronze Arts and Crafts panel of the Virgin and Child by Henry Wilson, the famous turn-of-the-century designer who lived in a neighbouring village and whose work may also be found in the churchyard.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Kemsing
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KEMSING.
THE next parish eastward from Otford is KEMSING, called in the Testa de Nevil, CAMESING, and in the Textus Rossensis, CIMICINGA. (fn. 1) The name of this place seems to have been given to it from some royal camp or fortress, situated here.
THIS PARISH of Kemsing, from its situation, is not much known or frequented, nor is it a pleasant one. It lies partly in the valley and partly on the chalk hills, at a small distance southward from the foot of which the village is situated, at the intersection of the roads from Otford to Ightham, and from the chalk hills to the high road by Seal Chart. Near the centre of it is a water, called St. Edith's well, who was a famous female saint, said to have been born in this parish, and to have wrought many miracles for such as applied to her for relief. (fn. 2) The parish is about two miles square; the soil of it, in the northern part, is mostly chalk, in the southern very fertile, it has about one hundred acres of wood; in the eastern part of it is the seat of Crowdleham, situated near the boundary of the parish of Ightham.
There was a market antiently kept here on a Monday, by grant from king Henry III. which has been long since discontinued, and a fair, which is still kept on Easter Monday. (fn. 3) There was an old knightly family, who took their surname from this place, being called Kempsing, whose coat of arms was, Argent, a sess and chevron, interlaced sable, which was quartered by the Harts of Lullingstone, in right of Peche, who married the heir general of it. (fn. 4)
IN THE SCUTAGE, levied as well on the prelates as the rest of the barons, in the 32d of king Henry II. being the seventh of that reign, towards the expences of the army in Wales. The honour of Kemesing, as it is there called, then being in the king's hands, answered for twenty-nine shillings by the hands of the sheriff of the county. (fn. 5) Soon after which it came into the possession of the earl of Albermarle, who held it of Walter Fitzhelt, as he again did of the king in capite.
In the reign of king John, Baldwin de Betun, who, by favour of king Richard I. had enjoyed the earldom of Albermarle, in Hawis his wife's right, who was daughter land sole heir of William le Gross, earl of Albermarle, was owner of this place, and in the 5th year of that reign granted the lordships of Kemesing, Braborne, and Sutton, in this county, to William Mareschal, earl of Pembroke, with Alice, his sole daughter and heir, in frank marriage. (fn. 6)
In the reign of king John he attached himself closely to the rebellious barons, when his lands were seised on, as escheats to the crown; and this manor, then valued at thirty-six pounds per annum, as appears by the Testa de Nevil, was granted to Fulke de Brent; on the confiscation of whose estates, and the earl's return to his obedience, he again came into possession of it, which happened on the king's death, his father having persuaded him to return to his loyalty once more, and he had many favours conferred on him by king Henry III. in the 7th year of whose reign he had, for his good services against the Welsh, scutage of all his tenants in this and other counties. In the 10th year of that reign, his first wife being dead, he married Alianore, the king's sister, by which he greatly incurred his displeasure; but a reconciliation quickly after taking place, he was again taken into favour, and in the 14th year of that reign had a confirmation of the manors of Kemsing, Braborne, and Sutton, in this county, upon condition, that in case Alianore, his wife, survived him, she should enjoy them during life. (fn. 7) He died possessed of Kemsing in the 15th year of that reign without issue, and lies buried in the Temple church, having his effigies cross legged on his tomb; on which the sheriff of this county had the king's precept to make livery to Alianore, his widow, of those manors. She, after seven years widowhood, remarried Simon de Montford, earl of Leicester, and steward of England, in St. Stephen's chapel, Westminster, the king giving her away with his own hand.
In the 45th year of that reign, the earl of Leicester, heading the discontented barons against the king, continued with them till the battle of Evesham, in the 49th year of it, in which the earl was killed; after whose death, the countess Alianore and her children were forced to forsake England, and she died some time afterwards in the nunnery of Montarges, in France.
In the mean time the four brothers of William earl of Pembroke, successively earls of Pembroke, being dead without issue, their inheritance became divided between the heirs of their five sisters and coheirs; and upon the partition of their interest in the manor of Kemsing, it seems to have become the sole property of Roger, eldest son of Maud the eldest sister, by her husband, Hugh Bigod, earl of Norfolk, (fn. 8) though the time of his coming into the possession of it. I do not find, as Alianore, second wife of William earl of Pembroke, was then living, who was entitled to it for her life.
Roger earl of Norfolk, and marshal of England, who bore for his arms, Per pale or and vert, a lion rampant gules, died of a bruise, which he received at a tour nament, about the 54th of Henry III.'s reign, leaving no issue by Isabel his wife, daughter of William king of Scots; upon which he was succeeded, as earl of Norfolk and marshal of the king's palace, as well as in the possession of this manor, by Roger his nephew, son of Hugh his brother, chief justice of England, (fn. 9) who, in the 7th of king Edward I. claimed, before the justices itinerant, large privileges for this manor; (fn. 10) and afterwards, in the 11th year of that reign, sold it, together with the advowson of this church, to Otho de Grandison, descended of a family, who were of the dukedom of Burgundy, in France, their residence there being called Grandison castle, a man of great account with that prince, who employed him much, and conferred many favours on him.
In the 18th year of that reign, he obtained free warren for all his demesne lands in Kemsing, (fn. 11) and having had summons to parliament among the barons of this realm, he departed this life without issue, leaving William de Grandison, his brother, his next heir; who died possessed of this manor, leaving by his wife, Sibilla, youngest daughter, and one of the coheirs of John de Tregoze, three sons; Peter de Grandison, his eldest son and heir, who, as well as his father, had summons to parliament; John bishop of Exeter; and Otho; and four daughters. (fn. 12)
On his death this manor became the property of Otho, the youngest son, who paid aid for it, in the 20th of king Edward III. as half a knight's fee, which William de Grandison before held in Kemsing of the earl of Leicester. He died possessed of this manor in the 33d year of that reign, (fn. 13) leaving by Beatrix his wife, daughter and coheir of Nicholas Malmains, one son and heir, Thomas, and a daughter, Elizabeth.
Thomas de Grandison, being of full age, had possession granted of this manor, among others; he was afterwards knighted, and died possessed of it in the 50th year of king Edward III. without issue, leaving Margaret his wife surviving, who likewise possessed it at her decease, in the 18th year of king Richard II. After which it came to Sir William de Bryene, or Bryan, who died possessed of it in the 19th year of the same reign, and lies buried in Seale church.
After his death, Sir William Fynes (whose name was originally spelt Fiennes, but about this time came to be written both Fynes and Fenys) became possessed of it, bearing for his arms, Azure, three lions rampant or. He was son of William Fiennes and Joane his wife, third sister and coheir of William de Say; and by Elizabeth his wife, daughter and heir of William Batisford, left issue two sons, Roger and James; from the former of which were descended the several lords Dacre of the south; and from the latter, the viscounts Say and Seale, both which titles are now extinct, (fn. 14) and the present lord Say and Sele.
James, the second son, above mentioned, possessed this manor, and in the 14th of king Henry, VI. was sheriff of this county, and soon afterwards made esquire of the body to that king. In the 24th year of whose reign, being then a knight, he was, by reason that Joane his grandmother was third sister and coheir of William de Say, by a special writ, on March 3d, next year, summoned to Parliament by the title of lord Say and Sele; (fn. 15) and two days afterwards, in consideration of his eminent services, he was, in open parliament, advanced to the dignity of a baron of this realm, by the above title, to him and his heirs male, and in the 27th year of that reign, he had a full confirmation and release of that title from John, lord Clinton, and of the arms of Say, which, on account of his descent from Idonea, the eldest sister of William de Say, might belong to him. In consideration of which he then granted to the lord Clinton, all advowsons of churches, knights fees, &c. which belonged to the latter, by reason of the lordship of Say. (fn. 16)
After which he obtained a grant of the office of constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, to him and his heirs male; was made lord chamberlain, and one of the king's council, and next year lord treasurer of England.
This rise to so high a pitch of honour, increased the hatred of the commons towards him, and served but to make his fall the more sudden and unhappy, for next year they accused him and others in the parliament held at St. Edmunds Bury, of treason, for having ing assented to the release of Anjou, and the delivery of Maine to the French; upon which the king, to appease them, sequestered him from his office of treasurer, and shortly after, on the insurrection of the Kentish men, under Jack Cade, observing their clamour against him, to mitigate it, he committed him prisoner to the tower; shortly after which, this riotous mob entering London, and finding their numbers increase, fetched him thence to Guildhall, and there arraigned him before the lord-mayor, and other the king's justices, notwithstanding his request to be tried by his peers; after which hurrying him to the standard in Cheapside, they cut off his head there, and carried it about on a pole, causing his naked body to be drawn at a horse's tail into Southwark, and there hanged and quartered, though his body was afterwards buried in the church of the Grey Friars, London. (fn. 17)
He left issue, by Emeline Cromer his wife, one son and heir, Sir William Fienes, who was that year, by special writ, summoned to parliament, being seized of an estate tail of the office of constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, by virtue of the patent above-mentioned, to James, his father, his interest in which he soon afterwards sold to Humphry, duke of Buckingham, and his heirs male.
The unhappy contention subsisting at that time between the houses of York and Lancaster for the throne, in which he risqued not only his person, but his whole fortune, brought him into great distresses, and necessitated him to mortgage, and fell the greatest part of his lands. (fn. 18) He married Margaret the daughter and heir of William Wickham, great-grandson of Agnes, sister to William of Wickham, founder of New College, Oxford. The lands of the lord Say being thus alienated the barony lay dormant, and the heirs male of the family were only called Fienes. Henry, his son and heir, though he used the title of lord Say, had never summons to parliament, and it remained unclaimed till the year 1733, when it was claimed by John Twisleton, esq. of Broughton, in Oxfordshire, descended by the female line from the above Sir William Fienes, lord Say and Sele, which claim, though it then failed, was renewed by his son Thomas, who was summoned to parliament as lord Say and Sele, in 1781, and was father to the present Gregory, lord Say and Sele. In the second year of king Edward IV. Sir William Fienes, lord Say and Sele, mentioned above, sold this manor of Kemsing to Sir Geoffry Bulleyn, (fn. 19) a wealthy mercer of London, who had been lord mayor in the 37th year of king Henry VI. whose grandson Thomas, was sheriff of this county in the 3d and 9th years of Henry VIII. and became a man of great note in that reign; for the king in his 3d year made him one of the knights of his body, and afterwards embassador several times to the emperor, and the kings of France and Spain, and in the 17th year of his reign, on account of the great affection which he bore to the lady Anne Bulleyn, his daughter, advanced him to the title of viscount Rochford; and in his 21st year, created him, being then knight of the garter, earl of Wiltshire and Ormond, and made him lord privy seal. (fn. 20) He died in the 30th year of king Henry VIII. possessed of this manor, have ing had by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk, one son, George, executed in his life-time, and two daughters; Anne, wife to king Henry VIII. and Mary, wife of William Carey, esq. of the king's body, and ancestor of the lords Hunsdon, and of the earls of Dover and Monmouth.
George Bulleyn, the son above-mentioned, bearing the title of viscount Rochford in his father's life-time, was, in the 26th year of that reign, made constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, and was much favored by that king, till the time of his change of affection from queen Anne Bulleyn; when the king, to make the path more easy towards the enjoyment of his new passion, in a sudden and unexpected gust of anger, in his 28th year, committed him to the tower, a few days after which, he was arraigned and beheaded, having had no issue, and was buried in St. Peter's chapel in the tower. (fn. 21)
On the death of the earl of Wiltshire without male issue, the king seized on this manor, in right of his late wife, the unfortunate Anne Bulleyn, the earl's elder daughter; and it remained in his hands till the 32d year of his reign, when by his indenture that year, reciting, that as the most noble lady, Anne of Cleves, daugh ter of John, late duke of Cleve, &c. came into his realm of England, on a certain treaty of marriage between himself and the said lady Anne; which marriage, although celebrated in the face of the church, yet was never consummated, for the conditions of it were never performed in due time, and there being other great and important causes, on account of which the convocation of the realm, with assent of the parties, and of the parliament, had declared the marriage to be invalid, there being no prospect of any children from it, notwithstanding which, the said lady was contented to conform to the laws of the realm, and to free herself and her conscience of the said marriage, and to remain at liberty within the realm; therefore the king, considering her high birth and nobility, of his especial grace and favour, granted her, for the maintenance of her noble estate, among other premises, his manors of Hever, Seale, and Kemsing, and his park of Hever, with all their rights, members, and appurtenances, late belonging to Thomas, earl of Wiltshire, deceased, and then in the king's hands; and all messuages, lands and hereditaments whatsoever, in Hever, Seale, and Kemsing, lately purchased by the king of Sir James Bulleyn, and William Bulleyn, clerk, to hold to her during life, so long as she should stay within the realm of England, and not depart out of it, without the licence of the king and his successors, and the king granted the premises free and discharged of all outgoings, rents, pensions, &c. except among others of forty shillings, issuing yearly out of the lands of John Tybolde, called Seale Park. (fn. 22)
¶The lady Ann of Cleves died possessed of these manors and estates in the 4th and 5th year of king Philip and queen Mary, when they reverted again to the crown; where the manors of Seale and Kemsing, and the other premises in those parishes, lay till queen Elizabeth, in her first year, granted them to her kinsman, Sir Henry Carey, whom she had advanced that year to the title of lord Hunsdon, baron of Hunsdon, in Hertfordshire, to hold in capite by knights service. (fn. 23) He was descended of an antient family, seated at Cockington, in Devonshire; one of whom was Sir Robert Carey, who in the beginning of king Henry V's reign, acquired great renown by his encountering and overcoming an Arragonian knight, who had performed many notable feats of arms in different countries, and then came to make trial of his prowess here in England, in a long and doubtful combat in Smithfield; for which he was by the king knighted, and restored to part of his father's inheritance, which had been forfeited. From which time he bore, as by the law of arms he might, the coat armour of the vanquished knight, viz. Argent, on a bend sable, three roses of the field barbed and seeded proper; the present bearing of this family: their antient bearing before this being, Gules, a chevron argent between three swans proper; one of which they still retain for their crest. His son was William Carey, who being in the battle of Tewksbury, in the 10th year of king Edward IV. on the part of the Lancastrians, upon the loss of that day, was taken prisoner, and notwithstanding he was promised a pardon, lost his head.
Kemsing is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Rochester, and deanry of Malling.
The church stands on the north side of the village, and is dedicated to St. Edith, whose image, set up in this church-yard, was greatly frequented for the singular benefits she daily dispensed in preserving corn and grain from blasting, mill-dew, and other harm incident to it. (fn. 32) It is a small church, consisting of only one isle and a chancel, having a pointed steeple at the west end, in which are two bells. There are but few monuments or inscriptions in it, in the chancel there is a grave-stone, with the figure of a man, and an inscription in brass in black letter, for Thomas de Hop, and at the east end a mural monument for Michael Jermin, D. D. obt. August 14, 1659, æt. 70. (fn. 33)
In the year 1397, anno 21 king Richard II. the king granted licence to Guy Mone, to give the advowson of the church of Kemsing to the prior and convent of Bermondsey for ever. (fn. 34) In which year they obtained the pope's bull, (fn. 35) to appropriate it with the chapel of Seale annexed to it, to the use and support of their convent; reserving, nevertheless, out of the fruits, rents, and profits of the church and chapel, for a perpetual vicar to be instituted in it by the ordinary, a fit portion, by which he might be maintained, the episcopal dues be paid, and other burthens incumbent on him might be conveniently borne. (fn. 36)
In consequence of which, John (de Bottlesham) bishop of Rochester, by his instrument, dated Oct. 12, anno 1402, (fn. 37) with the consent of the abbot and convent of Bermondesey, endowed the vicarage of this church as follows:
First, he decreed, that there should be a perpetual vicarage, to be held and possessed as a perpetual ecclesiastical benefice in the church of Kemsing, which he endowed out of the fruits, rents, and profits of the said church and the chapel of Seale; the vicar of which, who should be intitled to it, by the abbot and convent, proprietaries of this church, should be from time to time presented to the bishop and his successors, and inducted by the archdeacon; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent, and their successors, proprietaries of it, in right of the same, should take, have, and freely enjoy, all and every kind of great tythes, viz. of corn, of whatsoever sort it be, and of hay, growing within the bounds and limits, or titheable places of the church and chapel, the tithe of the grange or field of Budirevere within this parish only excepted; and he ordained, that the repair of the chancel of the church, in the walls, glass windows, and roof, and also the paying of all papal and royal tenths and procurations, and the procurations of legates of the apostolic see, of archbishops, bishops, and archdeacons, (the bishop and his church of Rochester being always saved harmless, on account of this appropriation) should belong to the abbot and convent, and their successors, to be paid and performed at their costs and expences; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent, and their successors, should cause forty pence in money, or meat and drink of as much value, to be yearly distributed to, and bestowed on, the poor, and more indigent parishioners of the church of Kemsing, towards their relief and support, out of the profits of the church; and he ordained, that the tithes of the food of all animals, and of pidgeons, and other titheable matters accruing within the rectory, and the straw of the church and chapel, so long as the rectory should remain in the hands of the abbot and convent, and be in no wife let to ferm, should belong to them, as proprietaries of the parish church; but if the same should be let to ferm, then he ordained, that the tithes of the food of animals, &c. as above-mentioned, should belong to the vicar of the vicarage of the same, for the time being, for ever, with this exception however, that if the abbot and convent should let to ferm any of their stock, with the rectory, no tithe should be taken of that stock; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent should cause to be built at their costs and expences, for that time only, a competent dwelling on a part of the glebe and soil of the rectory allotted for that purpose, in which he ordained, that the vicar for the time being should reside; and he ordained, that the portion of the vicar should be as follows: that he should take and have all oblations and obventions of the altar, as well in the parish church of Kemsing, as in the chapel of Seale, and the small tythes, of what kind or nature soever they be, accruing within the parish of the said church and chapel, and the titheable places of the same, and also all great and small tithes whatsoever, in and of the grange or field called Budyrevere, within the bounds and limits of the parish of the church of Kemsing; and he ordained, that the vicar for the time being should have the cure of all and singular the parishioners of the said church and chapel, and that he should find, at his own costs and expences, a proper chaplain to celebrate divine offices in the said chapel, and duly administer the sacraments and ecclesiastical sacramentals in the same, and also the bread, wine, and lights, necessary and accustomed at the celebrating divine offices in the said church and chapel; and, lastly, he pronounced and declared, that the above was a sufficient and competent portion for the vicar, and such as from it he would be able to support himself, to keep hospitality, and conveniently support the burthens incumbent on him. Which endowment was confirmed by the abbot and convent the day after, under their common seal. (fn. 38)
The above appropriation and endowment was confirmed by John Langdon, bishop of Rochester, in 1422, who further ordained, with the consent of the abbot and convent, that no future vicar might have any cause to complain, that he should receive yearly, from the abbot and convent, fourteen shillings of English money, beyond the portion before assigned to him as before-mentioned; and it was then agreed between the bishop and the abbot and convent, that the bishop should receive in future, out of the fruits and profits of the said church and chapel, 6s. 8d. yearly of English money, as an indemnity to the church of Rochester for any injury it might have received, by reason of the appropriation of this church and chapel.
All which was confirmed by the abbot and convent, under their common seal, the day and year abovementioned. (fn. 39)
On the dissolution of the monastery of St. Saviour's, Bermondesey, which happened in the 29th year of king Henry VIII. this church, with the chapel of Seale annexed was surrendered, among the rest of the possessions of that house, into the king's hands, and became part of the possessions of the crown, after which queen Elizabeth granted this rectory to Sir Peter Manwood; in king Charles I's reign, it was in the possession of James Bunce, esq. whose descendant, James Bunce, esq. of Crowdleham, in this parish, is the present owner of it.
But the advowson of the vicarage seems to have been granted, with the manor of Kemsing, to Henry Carey, lord Hunsdon, since which it has continued unalienated, for many generations, the property of the earls and dukes of Dorset, and is now in the possession of his grace John Frederick duke of Dorset.
In the 15th year of king Edward I. this church was valued at fifteen marcs. (fn. 40)
¶By virtue of the commission of enquiry into the value of church livings, in 1650, issuing out of chancery, it was returned, that here was a parsonage and vicarage; the parsonage tithes being about forty pounds per annum, and the glebe land thereunto belonging, worth ten pounds, master Bunce being patron, but it was then sequestered, and that the vicarage, tythes, and house, were worth one hundred pounds per annum; that there was issuing out of the parsonage to the vicar, by composition from the abbot, two pounds per annum, and by the will of master Bunce six pounds per annum, in all eighteen pounds, master Barton then incumbent. (fn. 41)
This vicarage, with Seale annexed, is valued in the king's books at 19l. 13s. 4d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 9s. 4d.
www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol3/pp32-50
St Mary, Kemsing, Kent I am mad.
Clearly.
I have all day to travel back home, but here I am , catching the six o'clock ferry from East Cowes, sitting now on the deck, taking photographs as we cast off.
Because I am mad.
I have a couple of places to visit on the way home, so I catch the early ferry, missing breakfast at the hotel. I could have had breakfast and caught the ferry at nine, but that would have meant battling traffic in and out of Newport due to the Floating Bridge being out of action.
So here I am.
Taking shots.
It is the blue hour. Or is it the pink hour in the morning?
I don't know. But sunrise is half an hour away, the engines tone rises, calm water on the river turn to foam, and we move off.
Once the ferry leaves the river, I go back downstairs and buy a coffee and a Twix, then go to the back lounge to see the island blend into the murk of dawn's shadows.
The ferry is only 10% full, so plenty of room to spread out and pretend that there's no other people about. I could have gone back up to snap Southampton in the golden light as the sun had risen, but instead I just sit and wait for the call to return to your cars.
I program the sat nav, so once we were docked and tied up, I was one of the first off, and was soon heading north to the motorway and away from the Southampton rush hour.
Traffic was heavy, but I made good progress, allowing me to stop at Fleet services for breakfast in Costa, before pressing on to the M25 and the chaos that drive east would be.
Traffic much heavier than it was three weeks back, meaning I was half an hour later, which I didn't mind, as the church I planned to visit would be more likely to be unlocked at half nine rather than nine.
West Kent is picturesque, full of pretty villages full of former merchant's houses, now seamlessly turned into what used to be called the stockbroker belt.
Otford was a village, now a suburb of Sevenoaks, the ancient centre of the village is around the pond, and around the edge of the green is the pub and the church.
A parking space outside the papershop offered half an hour's free parking, so I abandoned the car there and limped over the main road to the church, showing well through the bare trees, just waking up as spring arrives.
A modern church centre sits to the north, and having tried the west and south doors, I try going through the church centre, and the doors swing open into the church, no one else was inside.
There was a grand monument, the west wall covered in hatchings and the east window in the Chancel had several Flemish painted panels of saints arranged into a cross.
I take many, many shots.
I am back at the car within the half hour, and a three mile drive away through the rolling countryside is the next target, Kemsing.
We had been here before, but the porch door was locked, but the parish website promised it would be open from nine. And it was.
John Vigar's description stated that access to the Chancel would not be possible, which confused me, but the large arts and crafts recreation of the rood screen, was locked, and the door through the vestry was also out of bounds.
So I took shots through the screen, not ideal, but better than nothing, and I think they came out well.
It was time to go home. So, back in the car I program my phone, and it leads me back to the M20, and from there I know the way.
Lots of trucks and lorries also heading south, but I cruise past them. Its a fine day to be driving, the sun is breaking through the low cloud and mist, making for a pleasant drive.
I have also judged the fuel well, so don't need to refill before stopping at the car hire office.
They give it the once over, I tell them the things which are not working on te brand new car, they make notes, and I am done.
Emma drives me back to St Maggies, dropping me off on Station Road. I walk along to Chez Jelltex, check the garden for new flowers and growth, then go onside.
The cats sleep on, and I am overcome with weariness. MY knee is aching, I am out of painkillers, but massage it, nd its a little better.
I have brunch and a brew, listen to some podcasts, have a shower, unpack the suitcase.
Phew.
It now stays light until gone six, meaning we could have gone for a walk before dinner. But not at the moment. So I cook hash for dinner, which was ten minutes away from being done by the time Jools got home.
So we eat and drink wine.
One day and the weekend will be here.
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A chocolate-box church in a well-maintained churchyard. The nave is twelfth century in date, remodelled in the fourteenth century when the present roof was constructed. The chancel is also early but was reconstructed in the sixteenth century. A north aisle was added in 1890. The character of the church derives almost entirely from the nineteenth-and twentieth-century furnishings with which it is blessed. The rood screen is of the correct proportion and design and in the main dates from 1894 with minimal amounts of old woodwork. The wonderful figures on top are of 1908 and were designed by Sir Ninian Comper - the angels balance on their wheels like unicyclists! Comper also designed the wall paintings in the chancel, the altar, reredos and canopy. In the north aisle is an interesting collection of furnishings. There is a painted tile picture of Kemsing by the Kent artist Donald Maxwell, one of only a handful to survive. The central window is of two bishops and is typical of Comper's work, but it does not carry his usual signature of a strawberry plant. The west window of the north aisle is by Douglas Strachan, 1935, and is an excellent example of his angular figures. By the font is a bronze Arts and Crafts panel of the Virgin and Child by Henry Wilson, the famous turn-of-the-century designer who lived in a neighbouring village and whose work may also be found in the churchyard.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Kemsing
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KEMSING.
THE next parish eastward from Otford is KEMSING, called in the Testa de Nevil, CAMESING, and in the Textus Rossensis, CIMICINGA. (fn. 1) The name of this place seems to have been given to it from some royal camp or fortress, situated here.
THIS PARISH of Kemsing, from its situation, is not much known or frequented, nor is it a pleasant one. It lies partly in the valley and partly on the chalk hills, at a small distance southward from the foot of which the village is situated, at the intersection of the roads from Otford to Ightham, and from the chalk hills to the high road by Seal Chart. Near the centre of it is a water, called St. Edith's well, who was a famous female saint, said to have been born in this parish, and to have wrought many miracles for such as applied to her for relief. (fn. 2) The parish is about two miles square; the soil of it, in the northern part, is mostly chalk, in the southern very fertile, it has about one hundred acres of wood; in the eastern part of it is the seat of Crowdleham, situated near the boundary of the parish of Ightham.
There was a market antiently kept here on a Monday, by grant from king Henry III. which has been long since discontinued, and a fair, which is still kept on Easter Monday. (fn. 3) There was an old knightly family, who took their surname from this place, being called Kempsing, whose coat of arms was, Argent, a sess and chevron, interlaced sable, which was quartered by the Harts of Lullingstone, in right of Peche, who married the heir general of it. (fn. 4)
IN THE SCUTAGE, levied as well on the prelates as the rest of the barons, in the 32d of king Henry II. being the seventh of that reign, towards the expences of the army in Wales. The honour of Kemesing, as it is there called, then being in the king's hands, answered for twenty-nine shillings by the hands of the sheriff of the county. (fn. 5) Soon after which it came into the possession of the earl of Albermarle, who held it of Walter Fitzhelt, as he again did of the king in capite.
In the reign of king John, Baldwin de Betun, who, by favour of king Richard I. had enjoyed the earldom of Albermarle, in Hawis his wife's right, who was daughter land sole heir of William le Gross, earl of Albermarle, was owner of this place, and in the 5th year of that reign granted the lordships of Kemesing, Braborne, and Sutton, in this county, to William Mareschal, earl of Pembroke, with Alice, his sole daughter and heir, in frank marriage. (fn. 6)
In the reign of king John he attached himself closely to the rebellious barons, when his lands were seised on, as escheats to the crown; and this manor, then valued at thirty-six pounds per annum, as appears by the Testa de Nevil, was granted to Fulke de Brent; on the confiscation of whose estates, and the earl's return to his obedience, he again came into possession of it, which happened on the king's death, his father having persuaded him to return to his loyalty once more, and he had many favours conferred on him by king Henry III. in the 7th year of whose reign he had, for his good services against the Welsh, scutage of all his tenants in this and other counties. In the 10th year of that reign, his first wife being dead, he married Alianore, the king's sister, by which he greatly incurred his displeasure; but a reconciliation quickly after taking place, he was again taken into favour, and in the 14th year of that reign had a confirmation of the manors of Kemsing, Braborne, and Sutton, in this county, upon condition, that in case Alianore, his wife, survived him, she should enjoy them during life. (fn. 7) He died possessed of Kemsing in the 15th year of that reign without issue, and lies buried in the Temple church, having his effigies cross legged on his tomb; on which the sheriff of this county had the king's precept to make livery to Alianore, his widow, of those manors. She, after seven years widowhood, remarried Simon de Montford, earl of Leicester, and steward of England, in St. Stephen's chapel, Westminster, the king giving her away with his own hand.
In the 45th year of that reign, the earl of Leicester, heading the discontented barons against the king, continued with them till the battle of Evesham, in the 49th year of it, in which the earl was killed; after whose death, the countess Alianore and her children were forced to forsake England, and she died some time afterwards in the nunnery of Montarges, in France.
In the mean time the four brothers of William earl of Pembroke, successively earls of Pembroke, being dead without issue, their inheritance became divided between the heirs of their five sisters and coheirs; and upon the partition of their interest in the manor of Kemsing, it seems to have become the sole property of Roger, eldest son of Maud the eldest sister, by her husband, Hugh Bigod, earl of Norfolk, (fn. 8) though the time of his coming into the possession of it. I do not find, as Alianore, second wife of William earl of Pembroke, was then living, who was entitled to it for her life.
Roger earl of Norfolk, and marshal of England, who bore for his arms, Per pale or and vert, a lion rampant gules, died of a bruise, which he received at a tour nament, about the 54th of Henry III.'s reign, leaving no issue by Isabel his wife, daughter of William king of Scots; upon which he was succeeded, as earl of Norfolk and marshal of the king's palace, as well as in the possession of this manor, by Roger his nephew, son of Hugh his brother, chief justice of England, (fn. 9) who, in the 7th of king Edward I. claimed, before the justices itinerant, large privileges for this manor; (fn. 10) and afterwards, in the 11th year of that reign, sold it, together with the advowson of this church, to Otho de Grandison, descended of a family, who were of the dukedom of Burgundy, in France, their residence there being called Grandison castle, a man of great account with that prince, who employed him much, and conferred many favours on him.
In the 18th year of that reign, he obtained free warren for all his demesne lands in Kemsing, (fn. 11) and having had summons to parliament among the barons of this realm, he departed this life without issue, leaving William de Grandison, his brother, his next heir; who died possessed of this manor, leaving by his wife, Sibilla, youngest daughter, and one of the coheirs of John de Tregoze, three sons; Peter de Grandison, his eldest son and heir, who, as well as his father, had summons to parliament; John bishop of Exeter; and Otho; and four daughters. (fn. 12)
On his death this manor became the property of Otho, the youngest son, who paid aid for it, in the 20th of king Edward III. as half a knight's fee, which William de Grandison before held in Kemsing of the earl of Leicester. He died possessed of this manor in the 33d year of that reign, (fn. 13) leaving by Beatrix his wife, daughter and coheir of Nicholas Malmains, one son and heir, Thomas, and a daughter, Elizabeth.
Thomas de Grandison, being of full age, had possession granted of this manor, among others; he was afterwards knighted, and died possessed of it in the 50th year of king Edward III. without issue, leaving Margaret his wife surviving, who likewise possessed it at her decease, in the 18th year of king Richard II. After which it came to Sir William de Bryene, or Bryan, who died possessed of it in the 19th year of the same reign, and lies buried in Seale church.
After his death, Sir William Fynes (whose name was originally spelt Fiennes, but about this time came to be written both Fynes and Fenys) became possessed of it, bearing for his arms, Azure, three lions rampant or. He was son of William Fiennes and Joane his wife, third sister and coheir of William de Say; and by Elizabeth his wife, daughter and heir of William Batisford, left issue two sons, Roger and James; from the former of which were descended the several lords Dacre of the south; and from the latter, the viscounts Say and Seale, both which titles are now extinct, (fn. 14) and the present lord Say and Sele.
James, the second son, above mentioned, possessed this manor, and in the 14th of king Henry, VI. was sheriff of this county, and soon afterwards made esquire of the body to that king. In the 24th year of whose reign, being then a knight, he was, by reason that Joane his grandmother was third sister and coheir of William de Say, by a special writ, on March 3d, next year, summoned to Parliament by the title of lord Say and Sele; (fn. 15) and two days afterwards, in consideration of his eminent services, he was, in open parliament, advanced to the dignity of a baron of this realm, by the above title, to him and his heirs male, and in the 27th year of that reign, he had a full confirmation and release of that title from John, lord Clinton, and of the arms of Say, which, on account of his descent from Idonea, the eldest sister of William de Say, might belong to him. In consideration of which he then granted to the lord Clinton, all advowsons of churches, knights fees, &c. which belonged to the latter, by reason of the lordship of Say. (fn. 16)
After which he obtained a grant of the office of constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, to him and his heirs male; was made lord chamberlain, and one of the king's council, and next year lord treasurer of England.
This rise to so high a pitch of honour, increased the hatred of the commons towards him, and served but to make his fall the more sudden and unhappy, for next year they accused him and others in the parliament held at St. Edmunds Bury, of treason, for having ing assented to the release of Anjou, and the delivery of Maine to the French; upon which the king, to appease them, sequestered him from his office of treasurer, and shortly after, on the insurrection of the Kentish men, under Jack Cade, observing their clamour against him, to mitigate it, he committed him prisoner to the tower; shortly after which, this riotous mob entering London, and finding their numbers increase, fetched him thence to Guildhall, and there arraigned him before the lord-mayor, and other the king's justices, notwithstanding his request to be tried by his peers; after which hurrying him to the standard in Cheapside, they cut off his head there, and carried it about on a pole, causing his naked body to be drawn at a horse's tail into Southwark, and there hanged and quartered, though his body was afterwards buried in the church of the Grey Friars, London. (fn. 17)
He left issue, by Emeline Cromer his wife, one son and heir, Sir William Fienes, who was that year, by special writ, summoned to parliament, being seized of an estate tail of the office of constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, by virtue of the patent above-mentioned, to James, his father, his interest in which he soon afterwards sold to Humphry, duke of Buckingham, and his heirs male.
The unhappy contention subsisting at that time between the houses of York and Lancaster for the throne, in which he risqued not only his person, but his whole fortune, brought him into great distresses, and necessitated him to mortgage, and fell the greatest part of his lands. (fn. 18) He married Margaret the daughter and heir of William Wickham, great-grandson of Agnes, sister to William of Wickham, founder of New College, Oxford. The lands of the lord Say being thus alienated the barony lay dormant, and the heirs male of the family were only called Fienes. Henry, his son and heir, though he used the title of lord Say, had never summons to parliament, and it remained unclaimed till the year 1733, when it was claimed by John Twisleton, esq. of Broughton, in Oxfordshire, descended by the female line from the above Sir William Fienes, lord Say and Sele, which claim, though it then failed, was renewed by his son Thomas, who was summoned to parliament as lord Say and Sele, in 1781, and was father to the present Gregory, lord Say and Sele. In the second year of king Edward IV. Sir William Fienes, lord Say and Sele, mentioned above, sold this manor of Kemsing to Sir Geoffry Bulleyn, (fn. 19) a wealthy mercer of London, who had been lord mayor in the 37th year of king Henry VI. whose grandson Thomas, was sheriff of this county in the 3d and 9th years of Henry VIII. and became a man of great note in that reign; for the king in his 3d year made him one of the knights of his body, and afterwards embassador several times to the emperor, and the kings of France and Spain, and in the 17th year of his reign, on account of the great affection which he bore to the lady Anne Bulleyn, his daughter, advanced him to the title of viscount Rochford; and in his 21st year, created him, being then knight of the garter, earl of Wiltshire and Ormond, and made him lord privy seal. (fn. 20) He died in the 30th year of king Henry VIII. possessed of this manor, have ing had by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk, one son, George, executed in his life-time, and two daughters; Anne, wife to king Henry VIII. and Mary, wife of William Carey, esq. of the king's body, and ancestor of the lords Hunsdon, and of the earls of Dover and Monmouth.
George Bulleyn, the son above-mentioned, bearing the title of viscount Rochford in his father's life-time, was, in the 26th year of that reign, made constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, and was much favored by that king, till the time of his change of affection from queen Anne Bulleyn; when the king, to make the path more easy towards the enjoyment of his new passion, in a sudden and unexpected gust of anger, in his 28th year, committed him to the tower, a few days after which, he was arraigned and beheaded, having had no issue, and was buried in St. Peter's chapel in the tower. (fn. 21)
On the death of the earl of Wiltshire without male issue, the king seized on this manor, in right of his late wife, the unfortunate Anne Bulleyn, the earl's elder daughter; and it remained in his hands till the 32d year of his reign, when by his indenture that year, reciting, that as the most noble lady, Anne of Cleves, daugh ter of John, late duke of Cleve, &c. came into his realm of England, on a certain treaty of marriage between himself and the said lady Anne; which marriage, although celebrated in the face of the church, yet was never consummated, for the conditions of it were never performed in due time, and there being other great and important causes, on account of which the convocation of the realm, with assent of the parties, and of the parliament, had declared the marriage to be invalid, there being no prospect of any children from it, notwithstanding which, the said lady was contented to conform to the laws of the realm, and to free herself and her conscience of the said marriage, and to remain at liberty within the realm; therefore the king, considering her high birth and nobility, of his especial grace and favour, granted her, for the maintenance of her noble estate, among other premises, his manors of Hever, Seale, and Kemsing, and his park of Hever, with all their rights, members, and appurtenances, late belonging to Thomas, earl of Wiltshire, deceased, and then in the king's hands; and all messuages, lands and hereditaments whatsoever, in Hever, Seale, and Kemsing, lately purchased by the king of Sir James Bulleyn, and William Bulleyn, clerk, to hold to her during life, so long as she should stay within the realm of England, and not depart out of it, without the licence of the king and his successors, and the king granted the premises free and discharged of all outgoings, rents, pensions, &c. except among others of forty shillings, issuing yearly out of the lands of John Tybolde, called Seale Park. (fn. 22)
¶The lady Ann of Cleves died possessed of these manors and estates in the 4th and 5th year of king Philip and queen Mary, when they reverted again to the crown; where the manors of Seale and Kemsing, and the other premises in those parishes, lay till queen Elizabeth, in her first year, granted them to her kinsman, Sir Henry Carey, whom she had advanced that year to the title of lord Hunsdon, baron of Hunsdon, in Hertfordshire, to hold in capite by knights service. (fn. 23) He was descended of an antient family, seated at Cockington, in Devonshire; one of whom was Sir Robert Carey, who in the beginning of king Henry V's reign, acquired great renown by his encountering and overcoming an Arragonian knight, who had performed many notable feats of arms in different countries, and then came to make trial of his prowess here in England, in a long and doubtful combat in Smithfield; for which he was by the king knighted, and restored to part of his father's inheritance, which had been forfeited. From which time he bore, as by the law of arms he might, the coat armour of the vanquished knight, viz. Argent, on a bend sable, three roses of the field barbed and seeded proper; the present bearing of this family: their antient bearing before this being, Gules, a chevron argent between three swans proper; one of which they still retain for their crest. His son was William Carey, who being in the battle of Tewksbury, in the 10th year of king Edward IV. on the part of the Lancastrians, upon the loss of that day, was taken prisoner, and notwithstanding he was promised a pardon, lost his head.
Kemsing is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Rochester, and deanry of Malling.
The church stands on the north side of the village, and is dedicated to St. Edith, whose image, set up in this church-yard, was greatly frequented for the singular benefits she daily dispensed in preserving corn and grain from blasting, mill-dew, and other harm incident to it. (fn. 32) It is a small church, consisting of only one isle and a chancel, having a pointed steeple at the west end, in which are two bells. There are but few monuments or inscriptions in it, in the chancel there is a grave-stone, with the figure of a man, and an inscription in brass in black letter, for Thomas de Hop, and at the east end a mural monument for Michael Jermin, D. D. obt. August 14, 1659, æt. 70. (fn. 33)
In the year 1397, anno 21 king Richard II. the king granted licence to Guy Mone, to give the advowson of the church of Kemsing to the prior and convent of Bermondsey for ever. (fn. 34) In which year they obtained the pope's bull, (fn. 35) to appropriate it with the chapel of Seale annexed to it, to the use and support of their convent; reserving, nevertheless, out of the fruits, rents, and profits of the church and chapel, for a perpetual vicar to be instituted in it by the ordinary, a fit portion, by which he might be maintained, the episcopal dues be paid, and other burthens incumbent on him might be conveniently borne. (fn. 36)
In consequence of which, John (de Bottlesham) bishop of Rochester, by his instrument, dated Oct. 12, anno 1402, (fn. 37) with the consent of the abbot and convent of Bermondesey, endowed the vicarage of this church as follows:
First, he decreed, that there should be a perpetual vicarage, to be held and possessed as a perpetual ecclesiastical benefice in the church of Kemsing, which he endowed out of the fruits, rents, and profits of the said church and the chapel of Seale; the vicar of which, who should be intitled to it, by the abbot and convent, proprietaries of this church, should be from time to time presented to the bishop and his successors, and inducted by the archdeacon; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent, and their successors, proprietaries of it, in right of the same, should take, have, and freely enjoy, all and every kind of great tythes, viz. of corn, of whatsoever sort it be, and of hay, growing within the bounds and limits, or titheable places of the church and chapel, the tithe of the grange or field of Budirevere within this parish only excepted; and he ordained, that the repair of the chancel of the church, in the walls, glass windows, and roof, and also the paying of all papal and royal tenths and procurations, and the procurations of legates of the apostolic see, of archbishops, bishops, and archdeacons, (the bishop and his church of Rochester being always saved harmless, on account of this appropriation) should belong to the abbot and convent, and their successors, to be paid and performed at their costs and expences; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent, and their successors, should cause forty pence in money, or meat and drink of as much value, to be yearly distributed to, and bestowed on, the poor, and more indigent parishioners of the church of Kemsing, towards their relief and support, out of the profits of the church; and he ordained, that the tithes of the food of all animals, and of pidgeons, and other titheable matters accruing within the rectory, and the straw of the church and chapel, so long as the rectory should remain in the hands of the abbot and convent, and be in no wife let to ferm, should belong to them, as proprietaries of the parish church; but if the same should be let to ferm, then he ordained, that the tithes of the food of animals, &c. as above-mentioned, should belong to the vicar of the vicarage of the same, for the time being, for ever, with this exception however, that if the abbot and convent should let to ferm any of their stock, with the rectory, no tithe should be taken of that stock; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent should cause to be built at their costs and expences, for that time only, a competent dwelling on a part of the glebe and soil of the rectory allotted for that purpose, in which he ordained, that the vicar for the time being should reside; and he ordained, that the portion of the vicar should be as follows: that he should take and have all oblations and obventions of the altar, as well in the parish church of Kemsing, as in the chapel of Seale, and the small tythes, of what kind or nature soever they be, accruing within the parish of the said church and chapel, and the titheable places of the same, and also all great and small tithes whatsoever, in and of the grange or field called Budyrevere, within the bounds and limits of the parish of the church of Kemsing; and he ordained, that the vicar for the time being should have the cure of all and singular the parishioners of the said church and chapel, and that he should find, at his own costs and expences, a proper chaplain to celebrate divine offices in the said chapel, and duly administer the sacraments and ecclesiastical sacramentals in the same, and also the bread, wine, and lights, necessary and accustomed at the celebrating divine offices in the said church and chapel; and, lastly, he pronounced and declared, that the above was a sufficient and competent portion for the vicar, and such as from it he would be able to support himself, to keep hospitality, and conveniently support the burthens incumbent on him. Which endowment was confirmed by the abbot and convent the day after, under their common seal. (fn. 38)
The above appropriation and endowment was confirmed by John Langdon, bishop of Rochester, in 1422, who further ordained, with the consent of the abbot and convent, that no future vicar might have any cause to complain, that he should receive yearly, from the abbot and convent, fourteen shillings of English money, beyond the portion before assigned to him as before-mentioned; and it was then agreed between the bishop and the abbot and convent, that the bishop should receive in future, out of the fruits and profits of the said church and chapel, 6s. 8d. yearly of English money, as an indemnity to the church of Rochester for any injury it might have received, by reason of the appropriation of this church and chapel.
All which was confirmed by the abbot and convent, under their common seal, the day and year abovementioned. (fn. 39)
On the dissolution of the monastery of St. Saviour's, Bermondesey, which happened in the 29th year of king Henry VIII. this church, with the chapel of Seale annexed was surrendered, among the rest of the possessions of that house, into the king's hands, and became part of the possessions of the crown, after which queen Elizabeth granted this rectory to Sir Peter Manwood; in king Charles I's reign, it was in the possession of James Bunce, esq. whose descendant, James Bunce, esq. of Crowdleham, in this parish, is the present owner of it.
But the advowson of the vicarage seems to have been granted, with the manor of Kemsing, to Henry Carey, lord Hunsdon, since which it has continued unalienated, for many generations, the property of the earls and dukes of Dorset, and is now in the possession of his grace John Frederick duke of Dorset.
In the 15th year of king Edward I. this church was valued at fifteen marcs. (fn. 40)
¶By virtue of the commission of enquiry into the value of church livings, in 1650, issuing out of chancery, it was returned, that here was a parsonage and vicarage; the parsonage tithes being about forty pounds per annum, and the glebe land thereunto belonging, worth ten pounds, master Bunce being patron, but it was then sequestered, and that the vicarage, tythes, and house, were worth one hundred pounds per annum; that there was issuing out of the parsonage to the vicar, by composition from the abbot, two pounds per annum, and by the will of master Bunce six pounds per annum, in all eighteen pounds, master Barton then incumbent. (fn. 41)
This vicarage, with Seale annexed, is valued in the king's books at 19l. 13s. 4d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 9s. 4d.
www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol3/pp32-50
Edmund Lowe British postcard, no. 94.
The career of American actor Edmund Lowe (1890-1971) included over 100 films, beginning in 1915. The tall and athletic Lowe became a popular leading man in silent films, best remembered for his role as Sergeant Harry Quirt, a smart-mouthed buddy of the equally abrasive Captain Jimmy Flagg (Victor McLaglen) in What Price Glory? (1926). He worked steadily as a leading man throughout the 1930s, freelancing at various Hollywood studios. Once his days as a star were over, Edmund Lowe remained much sought-after by producers, having eased effortlessly into supporting roles.
Edmund Dantes Lowe was born in 1890 in San Jose, California, USA. His father was a judge. He attended Santa Clara College and entertained the idea of becoming a priest. Lowe switched career paths several times. At one time, he studied law, then taught English and elocution. The latter led to his involvement in the acting profession. After briefly appearing in Vaudeville, he joined the Oliver Morosco stock company in 1911 and made his Broadway debut six years later in 'The Brat'. The film soon beckoned. With his imposing physique and elegant manner, he quickly became a popular matinée idol, the Tuxedo-attired star of such A-grade productions as East of Suez (Raoul Walsh, 1925) opposite Pola Negri. In 1926, Lowe was cast, against type, in the role he would be identified with for the remainder of his career: that of the boozing, brawling and swearing Sergeant Harry Quirt in Maxwell Anderson's World War I drama What Price Glory (Raoul Walsh, 1926), co-starring Victor McLaglenhis as his on-screen adversary Captain Jimmy Flagg. The popularity of Quirt and Flagg virtually guaranteed Edmund Lowe's success in the new talking pictures. During the 1930s, he played romantic leads in such films as Dinner at Eight (George Cukor, 1933). He portrayed a young doctor trying to escape an affair with Wallace Beery's character's wife, played by Jean Harlow. His last romantic lead was in Every Day's a Holiday (A. Edward Sutherland, 1937), in which the 48-year-old Lowe played opposite the 44-year-old Mae West. Lowe shifted gears and began playing strong supporting roles in major films and leads in minor films.
Edmund Lowe worked under contract at 20th Century Fox (1924-1927, 1929-1932, 1934-1935), Paramount (1932-1933), MGM (1936) and Universal (1938-1939). In 1942, Lowe's friend William K. Howard, a top director of the 1920s, was attempting a comeback at the little 'Poverty Row' studio Monogram Pictures in 1942. As a favour to Howard, Lowe took the leading role in Klondike Fury (William K. Howard, 1942). Lowe's loyal gesture took a toll on his professional standing, according to Wikipedia. The small, independent Monogram studio was firmly in Hollywood's minor league. However, Lowe gave a strong central performance in Monogram's Dillinger (Max Nosseck, 1945) as Specs Green, the father of the title character, played by Lawrence Tierney. Dillinger was one of the slickest productions produced by Monogram and became a surprise The film elicited complaints from a few meekly-inclined civic groups and was banned in Chicago for two years because of its 'brutal, sensational subject matter'. Irrespective, it was a surprise box office hit. Lowe's last starring film role was in Monogram's Horror film The Strange Mr. Gregory (Phil Rosen, 1945). From the 1950s, he freelanced and acted on television. He starred as a sleuthing, two-fisted newspaper columnist in the half-hour series, Front Page Detective (1951-1952). In 1956, Lowe and Victor McLaglen were teamed for the last time in the all-star Around the World In 80 Days (John Farrow, Michael Anderson Jr., 1956). His final film was the Western Heller in Pink Tights (George Cukor, 1960) starring Sophia Loren and Anthony Quinn. Halfway through shooting, Lowe fell seriously ill and had to be doubled in long and medium shots by actor Bernard Nedell. In private life, Lowe had a reputation for impeccable attire and sartorial elegance. He was married three times. After his first marriage to Esther Miller ended in early 1925, Lowe met Lilyan Tashman while filming Ports of Call (Denison Clift, 1925). Lowe and Tashman were married before the release of the film. The two had homes in Beverly Hills and Malibu. They were married until Tashman's death from cancer at age 37 in 1934. Seventy years after Tashman's death, author E.J. Fleming claimed Lowe was a homosexual and Tashman was a lesbian. Lowe's third wife was costume designer Rita Kaufman. They were married from 1936 to 1950. Edmund Lowe died in 1971 in Woodland Hills, California, of lung cancer and is buried at San Fernando Mission Cemetery, Mission Hills, California. Not as well remembered today as he deserves to be, he is immortalised with a star on the 'Walk of Fame' on Hollywood Boulevard.
Sources: I.S. Mowis (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
St Mary, Kemsing, Kent I am mad.
Clearly.
I have all day to travel back home, but here I am , catching the six o'clock ferry from East Cowes, sitting now on the deck, taking photographs as we cast off.
Because I am mad.
I have a couple of places to visit on the way home, so I catch the early ferry, missing breakfast at the hotel. I could have had breakfast and caught the ferry at nine, but that would have meant battling traffic in and out of Newport due to the Floating Bridge being out of action.
So here I am.
Taking shots.
It is the blue hour. Or is it the pink hour in the morning?
I don't know. But sunrise is half an hour away, the engines tone rises, calm water on the river turn to foam, and we move off.
Once the ferry leaves the river, I go back downstairs and buy a coffee and a Twix, then go to the back lounge to see the island blend into the murk of dawn's shadows.
The ferry is only 10% full, so plenty of room to spread out and pretend that there's no other people about. I could have gone back up to snap Southampton in the golden light as the sun had risen, but instead I just sit and wait for the call to return to your cars.
I program the sat nav, so once we were docked and tied up, I was one of the first off, and was soon heading north to the motorway and away from the Southampton rush hour.
Traffic was heavy, but I made good progress, allowing me to stop at Fleet services for breakfast in Costa, before pressing on to the M25 and the chaos that drive east would be.
Traffic much heavier than it was three weeks back, meaning I was half an hour later, which I didn't mind, as the church I planned to visit would be more likely to be unlocked at half nine rather than nine.
West Kent is picturesque, full of pretty villages full of former merchant's houses, now seamlessly turned into what used to be called the stockbroker belt.
Otford was a village, now a suburb of Sevenoaks, the ancient centre of the village is around the pond, and around the edge of the green is the pub and the church.
A parking space outside the papershop offered half an hour's free parking, so I abandoned the car there and limped over the main road to the church, showing well through the bare trees, just waking up as spring arrives.
A modern church centre sits to the north, and having tried the west and south doors, I try going through the church centre, and the doors swing open into the church, no one else was inside.
There was a grand monument, the west wall covered in hatchings and the east window in the Chancel had several Flemish painted panels of saints arranged into a cross.
I take many, many shots.
I am back at the car within the half hour, and a three mile drive away through the rolling countryside is the next target, Kemsing.
We had been here before, but the porch door was locked, but the parish website promised it would be open from nine. And it was.
John Vigar's description stated that access to the Chancel would not be possible, which confused me, but the large arts and crafts recreation of the rood screen, was locked, and the door through the vestry was also out of bounds.
So I took shots through the screen, not ideal, but better than nothing, and I think they came out well.
It was time to go home. So, back in the car I program my phone, and it leads me back to the M20, and from there I know the way.
Lots of trucks and lorries also heading south, but I cruise past them. Its a fine day to be driving, the sun is breaking through the low cloud and mist, making for a pleasant drive.
I have also judged the fuel well, so don't need to refill before stopping at the car hire office.
They give it the once over, I tell them the things which are not working on te brand new car, they make notes, and I am done.
Emma drives me back to St Maggies, dropping me off on Station Road. I walk along to Chez Jelltex, check the garden for new flowers and growth, then go onside.
The cats sleep on, and I am overcome with weariness. MY knee is aching, I am out of painkillers, but massage it, nd its a little better.
I have brunch and a brew, listen to some podcasts, have a shower, unpack the suitcase.
Phew.
It now stays light until gone six, meaning we could have gone for a walk before dinner. But not at the moment. So I cook hash for dinner, which was ten minutes away from being done by the time Jools got home.
So we eat and drink wine.
One day and the weekend will be here.
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A chocolate-box church in a well-maintained churchyard. The nave is twelfth century in date, remodelled in the fourteenth century when the present roof was constructed. The chancel is also early but was reconstructed in the sixteenth century. A north aisle was added in 1890. The character of the church derives almost entirely from the nineteenth-and twentieth-century furnishings with which it is blessed. The rood screen is of the correct proportion and design and in the main dates from 1894 with minimal amounts of old woodwork. The wonderful figures on top are of 1908 and were designed by Sir Ninian Comper - the angels balance on their wheels like unicyclists! Comper also designed the wall paintings in the chancel, the altar, reredos and canopy. In the north aisle is an interesting collection of furnishings. There is a painted tile picture of Kemsing by the Kent artist Donald Maxwell, one of only a handful to survive. The central window is of two bishops and is typical of Comper's work, but it does not carry his usual signature of a strawberry plant. The west window of the north aisle is by Douglas Strachan, 1935, and is an excellent example of his angular figures. By the font is a bronze Arts and Crafts panel of the Virgin and Child by Henry Wilson, the famous turn-of-the-century designer who lived in a neighbouring village and whose work may also be found in the churchyard.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Kemsing
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KEMSING.
THE next parish eastward from Otford is KEMSING, called in the Testa de Nevil, CAMESING, and in the Textus Rossensis, CIMICINGA. (fn. 1) The name of this place seems to have been given to it from some royal camp or fortress, situated here.
THIS PARISH of Kemsing, from its situation, is not much known or frequented, nor is it a pleasant one. It lies partly in the valley and partly on the chalk hills, at a small distance southward from the foot of which the village is situated, at the intersection of the roads from Otford to Ightham, and from the chalk hills to the high road by Seal Chart. Near the centre of it is a water, called St. Edith's well, who was a famous female saint, said to have been born in this parish, and to have wrought many miracles for such as applied to her for relief. (fn. 2) The parish is about two miles square; the soil of it, in the northern part, is mostly chalk, in the southern very fertile, it has about one hundred acres of wood; in the eastern part of it is the seat of Crowdleham, situated near the boundary of the parish of Ightham.
There was a market antiently kept here on a Monday, by grant from king Henry III. which has been long since discontinued, and a fair, which is still kept on Easter Monday. (fn. 3) There was an old knightly family, who took their surname from this place, being called Kempsing, whose coat of arms was, Argent, a sess and chevron, interlaced sable, which was quartered by the Harts of Lullingstone, in right of Peche, who married the heir general of it. (fn. 4)
IN THE SCUTAGE, levied as well on the prelates as the rest of the barons, in the 32d of king Henry II. being the seventh of that reign, towards the expences of the army in Wales. The honour of Kemesing, as it is there called, then being in the king's hands, answered for twenty-nine shillings by the hands of the sheriff of the county. (fn. 5) Soon after which it came into the possession of the earl of Albermarle, who held it of Walter Fitzhelt, as he again did of the king in capite.
In the reign of king John, Baldwin de Betun, who, by favour of king Richard I. had enjoyed the earldom of Albermarle, in Hawis his wife's right, who was daughter land sole heir of William le Gross, earl of Albermarle, was owner of this place, and in the 5th year of that reign granted the lordships of Kemesing, Braborne, and Sutton, in this county, to William Mareschal, earl of Pembroke, with Alice, his sole daughter and heir, in frank marriage. (fn. 6)
In the reign of king John he attached himself closely to the rebellious barons, when his lands were seised on, as escheats to the crown; and this manor, then valued at thirty-six pounds per annum, as appears by the Testa de Nevil, was granted to Fulke de Brent; on the confiscation of whose estates, and the earl's return to his obedience, he again came into possession of it, which happened on the king's death, his father having persuaded him to return to his loyalty once more, and he had many favours conferred on him by king Henry III. in the 7th year of whose reign he had, for his good services against the Welsh, scutage of all his tenants in this and other counties. In the 10th year of that reign, his first wife being dead, he married Alianore, the king's sister, by which he greatly incurred his displeasure; but a reconciliation quickly after taking place, he was again taken into favour, and in the 14th year of that reign had a confirmation of the manors of Kemsing, Braborne, and Sutton, in this county, upon condition, that in case Alianore, his wife, survived him, she should enjoy them during life. (fn. 7) He died possessed of Kemsing in the 15th year of that reign without issue, and lies buried in the Temple church, having his effigies cross legged on his tomb; on which the sheriff of this county had the king's precept to make livery to Alianore, his widow, of those manors. She, after seven years widowhood, remarried Simon de Montford, earl of Leicester, and steward of England, in St. Stephen's chapel, Westminster, the king giving her away with his own hand.
In the 45th year of that reign, the earl of Leicester, heading the discontented barons against the king, continued with them till the battle of Evesham, in the 49th year of it, in which the earl was killed; after whose death, the countess Alianore and her children were forced to forsake England, and she died some time afterwards in the nunnery of Montarges, in France.
In the mean time the four brothers of William earl of Pembroke, successively earls of Pembroke, being dead without issue, their inheritance became divided between the heirs of their five sisters and coheirs; and upon the partition of their interest in the manor of Kemsing, it seems to have become the sole property of Roger, eldest son of Maud the eldest sister, by her husband, Hugh Bigod, earl of Norfolk, (fn. 8) though the time of his coming into the possession of it. I do not find, as Alianore, second wife of William earl of Pembroke, was then living, who was entitled to it for her life.
Roger earl of Norfolk, and marshal of England, who bore for his arms, Per pale or and vert, a lion rampant gules, died of a bruise, which he received at a tour nament, about the 54th of Henry III.'s reign, leaving no issue by Isabel his wife, daughter of William king of Scots; upon which he was succeeded, as earl of Norfolk and marshal of the king's palace, as well as in the possession of this manor, by Roger his nephew, son of Hugh his brother, chief justice of England, (fn. 9) who, in the 7th of king Edward I. claimed, before the justices itinerant, large privileges for this manor; (fn. 10) and afterwards, in the 11th year of that reign, sold it, together with the advowson of this church, to Otho de Grandison, descended of a family, who were of the dukedom of Burgundy, in France, their residence there being called Grandison castle, a man of great account with that prince, who employed him much, and conferred many favours on him.
In the 18th year of that reign, he obtained free warren for all his demesne lands in Kemsing, (fn. 11) and having had summons to parliament among the barons of this realm, he departed this life without issue, leaving William de Grandison, his brother, his next heir; who died possessed of this manor, leaving by his wife, Sibilla, youngest daughter, and one of the coheirs of John de Tregoze, three sons; Peter de Grandison, his eldest son and heir, who, as well as his father, had summons to parliament; John bishop of Exeter; and Otho; and four daughters. (fn. 12)
On his death this manor became the property of Otho, the youngest son, who paid aid for it, in the 20th of king Edward III. as half a knight's fee, which William de Grandison before held in Kemsing of the earl of Leicester. He died possessed of this manor in the 33d year of that reign, (fn. 13) leaving by Beatrix his wife, daughter and coheir of Nicholas Malmains, one son and heir, Thomas, and a daughter, Elizabeth.
Thomas de Grandison, being of full age, had possession granted of this manor, among others; he was afterwards knighted, and died possessed of it in the 50th year of king Edward III. without issue, leaving Margaret his wife surviving, who likewise possessed it at her decease, in the 18th year of king Richard II. After which it came to Sir William de Bryene, or Bryan, who died possessed of it in the 19th year of the same reign, and lies buried in Seale church.
After his death, Sir William Fynes (whose name was originally spelt Fiennes, but about this time came to be written both Fynes and Fenys) became possessed of it, bearing for his arms, Azure, three lions rampant or. He was son of William Fiennes and Joane his wife, third sister and coheir of William de Say; and by Elizabeth his wife, daughter and heir of William Batisford, left issue two sons, Roger and James; from the former of which were descended the several lords Dacre of the south; and from the latter, the viscounts Say and Seale, both which titles are now extinct, (fn. 14) and the present lord Say and Sele.
James, the second son, above mentioned, possessed this manor, and in the 14th of king Henry, VI. was sheriff of this county, and soon afterwards made esquire of the body to that king. In the 24th year of whose reign, being then a knight, he was, by reason that Joane his grandmother was third sister and coheir of William de Say, by a special writ, on March 3d, next year, summoned to Parliament by the title of lord Say and Sele; (fn. 15) and two days afterwards, in consideration of his eminent services, he was, in open parliament, advanced to the dignity of a baron of this realm, by the above title, to him and his heirs male, and in the 27th year of that reign, he had a full confirmation and release of that title from John, lord Clinton, and of the arms of Say, which, on account of his descent from Idonea, the eldest sister of William de Say, might belong to him. In consideration of which he then granted to the lord Clinton, all advowsons of churches, knights fees, &c. which belonged to the latter, by reason of the lordship of Say. (fn. 16)
After which he obtained a grant of the office of constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, to him and his heirs male; was made lord chamberlain, and one of the king's council, and next year lord treasurer of England.
This rise to so high a pitch of honour, increased the hatred of the commons towards him, and served but to make his fall the more sudden and unhappy, for next year they accused him and others in the parliament held at St. Edmunds Bury, of treason, for having ing assented to the release of Anjou, and the delivery of Maine to the French; upon which the king, to appease them, sequestered him from his office of treasurer, and shortly after, on the insurrection of the Kentish men, under Jack Cade, observing their clamour against him, to mitigate it, he committed him prisoner to the tower; shortly after which, this riotous mob entering London, and finding their numbers increase, fetched him thence to Guildhall, and there arraigned him before the lord-mayor, and other the king's justices, notwithstanding his request to be tried by his peers; after which hurrying him to the standard in Cheapside, they cut off his head there, and carried it about on a pole, causing his naked body to be drawn at a horse's tail into Southwark, and there hanged and quartered, though his body was afterwards buried in the church of the Grey Friars, London. (fn. 17)
He left issue, by Emeline Cromer his wife, one son and heir, Sir William Fienes, who was that year, by special writ, summoned to parliament, being seized of an estate tail of the office of constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, by virtue of the patent above-mentioned, to James, his father, his interest in which he soon afterwards sold to Humphry, duke of Buckingham, and his heirs male.
The unhappy contention subsisting at that time between the houses of York and Lancaster for the throne, in which he risqued not only his person, but his whole fortune, brought him into great distresses, and necessitated him to mortgage, and fell the greatest part of his lands. (fn. 18) He married Margaret the daughter and heir of William Wickham, great-grandson of Agnes, sister to William of Wickham, founder of New College, Oxford. The lands of the lord Say being thus alienated the barony lay dormant, and the heirs male of the family were only called Fienes. Henry, his son and heir, though he used the title of lord Say, had never summons to parliament, and it remained unclaimed till the year 1733, when it was claimed by John Twisleton, esq. of Broughton, in Oxfordshire, descended by the female line from the above Sir William Fienes, lord Say and Sele, which claim, though it then failed, was renewed by his son Thomas, who was summoned to parliament as lord Say and Sele, in 1781, and was father to the present Gregory, lord Say and Sele. In the second year of king Edward IV. Sir William Fienes, lord Say and Sele, mentioned above, sold this manor of Kemsing to Sir Geoffry Bulleyn, (fn. 19) a wealthy mercer of London, who had been lord mayor in the 37th year of king Henry VI. whose grandson Thomas, was sheriff of this county in the 3d and 9th years of Henry VIII. and became a man of great note in that reign; for the king in his 3d year made him one of the knights of his body, and afterwards embassador several times to the emperor, and the kings of France and Spain, and in the 17th year of his reign, on account of the great affection which he bore to the lady Anne Bulleyn, his daughter, advanced him to the title of viscount Rochford; and in his 21st year, created him, being then knight of the garter, earl of Wiltshire and Ormond, and made him lord privy seal. (fn. 20) He died in the 30th year of king Henry VIII. possessed of this manor, have ing had by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk, one son, George, executed in his life-time, and two daughters; Anne, wife to king Henry VIII. and Mary, wife of William Carey, esq. of the king's body, and ancestor of the lords Hunsdon, and of the earls of Dover and Monmouth.
George Bulleyn, the son above-mentioned, bearing the title of viscount Rochford in his father's life-time, was, in the 26th year of that reign, made constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, and was much favored by that king, till the time of his change of affection from queen Anne Bulleyn; when the king, to make the path more easy towards the enjoyment of his new passion, in a sudden and unexpected gust of anger, in his 28th year, committed him to the tower, a few days after which, he was arraigned and beheaded, having had no issue, and was buried in St. Peter's chapel in the tower. (fn. 21)
On the death of the earl of Wiltshire without male issue, the king seized on this manor, in right of his late wife, the unfortunate Anne Bulleyn, the earl's elder daughter; and it remained in his hands till the 32d year of his reign, when by his indenture that year, reciting, that as the most noble lady, Anne of Cleves, daugh ter of John, late duke of Cleve, &c. came into his realm of England, on a certain treaty of marriage between himself and the said lady Anne; which marriage, although celebrated in the face of the church, yet was never consummated, for the conditions of it were never performed in due time, and there being other great and important causes, on account of which the convocation of the realm, with assent of the parties, and of the parliament, had declared the marriage to be invalid, there being no prospect of any children from it, notwithstanding which, the said lady was contented to conform to the laws of the realm, and to free herself and her conscience of the said marriage, and to remain at liberty within the realm; therefore the king, considering her high birth and nobility, of his especial grace and favour, granted her, for the maintenance of her noble estate, among other premises, his manors of Hever, Seale, and Kemsing, and his park of Hever, with all their rights, members, and appurtenances, late belonging to Thomas, earl of Wiltshire, deceased, and then in the king's hands; and all messuages, lands and hereditaments whatsoever, in Hever, Seale, and Kemsing, lately purchased by the king of Sir James Bulleyn, and William Bulleyn, clerk, to hold to her during life, so long as she should stay within the realm of England, and not depart out of it, without the licence of the king and his successors, and the king granted the premises free and discharged of all outgoings, rents, pensions, &c. except among others of forty shillings, issuing yearly out of the lands of John Tybolde, called Seale Park. (fn. 22)
¶The lady Ann of Cleves died possessed of these manors and estates in the 4th and 5th year of king Philip and queen Mary, when they reverted again to the crown; where the manors of Seale and Kemsing, and the other premises in those parishes, lay till queen Elizabeth, in her first year, granted them to her kinsman, Sir Henry Carey, whom she had advanced that year to the title of lord Hunsdon, baron of Hunsdon, in Hertfordshire, to hold in capite by knights service. (fn. 23) He was descended of an antient family, seated at Cockington, in Devonshire; one of whom was Sir Robert Carey, who in the beginning of king Henry V's reign, acquired great renown by his encountering and overcoming an Arragonian knight, who had performed many notable feats of arms in different countries, and then came to make trial of his prowess here in England, in a long and doubtful combat in Smithfield; for which he was by the king knighted, and restored to part of his father's inheritance, which had been forfeited. From which time he bore, as by the law of arms he might, the coat armour of the vanquished knight, viz. Argent, on a bend sable, three roses of the field barbed and seeded proper; the present bearing of this family: their antient bearing before this being, Gules, a chevron argent between three swans proper; one of which they still retain for their crest. His son was William Carey, who being in the battle of Tewksbury, in the 10th year of king Edward IV. on the part of the Lancastrians, upon the loss of that day, was taken prisoner, and notwithstanding he was promised a pardon, lost his head.
Kemsing is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Rochester, and deanry of Malling.
The church stands on the north side of the village, and is dedicated to St. Edith, whose image, set up in this church-yard, was greatly frequented for the singular benefits she daily dispensed in preserving corn and grain from blasting, mill-dew, and other harm incident to it. (fn. 32) It is a small church, consisting of only one isle and a chancel, having a pointed steeple at the west end, in which are two bells. There are but few monuments or inscriptions in it, in the chancel there is a grave-stone, with the figure of a man, and an inscription in brass in black letter, for Thomas de Hop, and at the east end a mural monument for Michael Jermin, D. D. obt. August 14, 1659, æt. 70. (fn. 33)
In the year 1397, anno 21 king Richard II. the king granted licence to Guy Mone, to give the advowson of the church of Kemsing to the prior and convent of Bermondsey for ever. (fn. 34) In which year they obtained the pope's bull, (fn. 35) to appropriate it with the chapel of Seale annexed to it, to the use and support of their convent; reserving, nevertheless, out of the fruits, rents, and profits of the church and chapel, for a perpetual vicar to be instituted in it by the ordinary, a fit portion, by which he might be maintained, the episcopal dues be paid, and other burthens incumbent on him might be conveniently borne. (fn. 36)
In consequence of which, John (de Bottlesham) bishop of Rochester, by his instrument, dated Oct. 12, anno 1402, (fn. 37) with the consent of the abbot and convent of Bermondesey, endowed the vicarage of this church as follows:
First, he decreed, that there should be a perpetual vicarage, to be held and possessed as a perpetual ecclesiastical benefice in the church of Kemsing, which he endowed out of the fruits, rents, and profits of the said church and the chapel of Seale; the vicar of which, who should be intitled to it, by the abbot and convent, proprietaries of this church, should be from time to time presented to the bishop and his successors, and inducted by the archdeacon; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent, and their successors, proprietaries of it, in right of the same, should take, have, and freely enjoy, all and every kind of great tythes, viz. of corn, of whatsoever sort it be, and of hay, growing within the bounds and limits, or titheable places of the church and chapel, the tithe of the grange or field of Budirevere within this parish only excepted; and he ordained, that the repair of the chancel of the church, in the walls, glass windows, and roof, and also the paying of all papal and royal tenths and procurations, and the procurations of legates of the apostolic see, of archbishops, bishops, and archdeacons, (the bishop and his church of Rochester being always saved harmless, on account of this appropriation) should belong to the abbot and convent, and their successors, to be paid and performed at their costs and expences; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent, and their successors, should cause forty pence in money, or meat and drink of as much value, to be yearly distributed to, and bestowed on, the poor, and more indigent parishioners of the church of Kemsing, towards their relief and support, out of the profits of the church; and he ordained, that the tithes of the food of all animals, and of pidgeons, and other titheable matters accruing within the rectory, and the straw of the church and chapel, so long as the rectory should remain in the hands of the abbot and convent, and be in no wife let to ferm, should belong to them, as proprietaries of the parish church; but if the same should be let to ferm, then he ordained, that the tithes of the food of animals, &c. as above-mentioned, should belong to the vicar of the vicarage of the same, for the time being, for ever, with this exception however, that if the abbot and convent should let to ferm any of their stock, with the rectory, no tithe should be taken of that stock; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent should cause to be built at their costs and expences, for that time only, a competent dwelling on a part of the glebe and soil of the rectory allotted for that purpose, in which he ordained, that the vicar for the time being should reside; and he ordained, that the portion of the vicar should be as follows: that he should take and have all oblations and obventions of the altar, as well in the parish church of Kemsing, as in the chapel of Seale, and the small tythes, of what kind or nature soever they be, accruing within the parish of the said church and chapel, and the titheable places of the same, and also all great and small tithes whatsoever, in and of the grange or field called Budyrevere, within the bounds and limits of the parish of the church of Kemsing; and he ordained, that the vicar for the time being should have the cure of all and singular the parishioners of the said church and chapel, and that he should find, at his own costs and expences, a proper chaplain to celebrate divine offices in the said chapel, and duly administer the sacraments and ecclesiastical sacramentals in the same, and also the bread, wine, and lights, necessary and accustomed at the celebrating divine offices in the said church and chapel; and, lastly, he pronounced and declared, that the above was a sufficient and competent portion for the vicar, and such as from it he would be able to support himself, to keep hospitality, and conveniently support the burthens incumbent on him. Which endowment was confirmed by the abbot and convent the day after, under their common seal. (fn. 38)
The above appropriation and endowment was confirmed by John Langdon, bishop of Rochester, in 1422, who further ordained, with the consent of the abbot and convent, that no future vicar might have any cause to complain, that he should receive yearly, from the abbot and convent, fourteen shillings of English money, beyond the portion before assigned to him as before-mentioned; and it was then agreed between the bishop and the abbot and convent, that the bishop should receive in future, out of the fruits and profits of the said church and chapel, 6s. 8d. yearly of English money, as an indemnity to the church of Rochester for any injury it might have received, by reason of the appropriation of this church and chapel.
All which was confirmed by the abbot and convent, under their common seal, the day and year abovementioned. (fn. 39)
On the dissolution of the monastery of St. Saviour's, Bermondesey, which happened in the 29th year of king Henry VIII. this church, with the chapel of Seale annexed was surrendered, among the rest of the possessions of that house, into the king's hands, and became part of the possessions of the crown, after which queen Elizabeth granted this rectory to Sir Peter Manwood; in king Charles I's reign, it was in the possession of James Bunce, esq. whose descendant, James Bunce, esq. of Crowdleham, in this parish, is the present owner of it.
But the advowson of the vicarage seems to have been granted, with the manor of Kemsing, to Henry Carey, lord Hunsdon, since which it has continued unalienated, for many generations, the property of the earls and dukes of Dorset, and is now in the possession of his grace John Frederick duke of Dorset.
In the 15th year of king Edward I. this church was valued at fifteen marcs. (fn. 40)
¶By virtue of the commission of enquiry into the value of church livings, in 1650, issuing out of chancery, it was returned, that here was a parsonage and vicarage; the parsonage tithes being about forty pounds per annum, and the glebe land thereunto belonging, worth ten pounds, master Bunce being patron, but it was then sequestered, and that the vicarage, tythes, and house, were worth one hundred pounds per annum; that there was issuing out of the parsonage to the vicar, by composition from the abbot, two pounds per annum, and by the will of master Bunce six pounds per annum, in all eighteen pounds, master Barton then incumbent. (fn. 41)
This vicarage, with Seale annexed, is valued in the king's books at 19l. 13s. 4d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 9s. 4d.
www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol3/pp32-50
St Mary, Kemsing, Kent I am mad.
Clearly.
I have all day to travel back home, but here I am , catching the six o'clock ferry from East Cowes, sitting now on the deck, taking photographs as we cast off.
Because I am mad.
I have a couple of places to visit on the way home, so I catch the early ferry, missing breakfast at the hotel. I could have had breakfast and caught the ferry at nine, but that would have meant battling traffic in and out of Newport due to the Floating Bridge being out of action.
So here I am.
Taking shots.
It is the blue hour. Or is it the pink hour in the morning?
I don't know. But sunrise is half an hour away, the engines tone rises, calm water on the river turn to foam, and we move off.
Once the ferry leaves the river, I go back downstairs and buy a coffee and a Twix, then go to the back lounge to see the island blend into the murk of dawn's shadows.
The ferry is only 10% full, so plenty of room to spread out and pretend that there's no other people about. I could have gone back up to snap Southampton in the golden light as the sun had risen, but instead I just sit and wait for the call to return to your cars.
I program the sat nav, so once we were docked and tied up, I was one of the first off, and was soon heading north to the motorway and away from the Southampton rush hour.
Traffic was heavy, but I made good progress, allowing me to stop at Fleet services for breakfast in Costa, before pressing on to the M25 and the chaos that drive east would be.
Traffic much heavier than it was three weeks back, meaning I was half an hour later, which I didn't mind, as the church I planned to visit would be more likely to be unlocked at half nine rather than nine.
West Kent is picturesque, full of pretty villages full of former merchant's houses, now seamlessly turned into what used to be called the stockbroker belt.
Otford was a village, now a suburb of Sevenoaks, the ancient centre of the village is around the pond, and around the edge of the green is the pub and the church.
A parking space outside the papershop offered half an hour's free parking, so I abandoned the car there and limped over the main road to the church, showing well through the bare trees, just waking up as spring arrives.
A modern church centre sits to the north, and having tried the west and south doors, I try going through the church centre, and the doors swing open into the church, no one else was inside.
There was a grand monument, the west wall covered in hatchings and the east window in the Chancel had several Flemish painted panels of saints arranged into a cross.
I take many, many shots.
I am back at the car within the half hour, and a three mile drive away through the rolling countryside is the next target, Kemsing.
We had been here before, but the porch door was locked, but the parish website promised it would be open from nine. And it was.
John Vigar's description stated that access to the Chancel would not be possible, which confused me, but the large arts and crafts recreation of the rood screen, was locked, and the door through the vestry was also out of bounds.
So I took shots through the screen, not ideal, but better than nothing, and I think they came out well.
It was time to go home. So, back in the car I program my phone, and it leads me back to the M20, and from there I know the way.
Lots of trucks and lorries also heading south, but I cruise past them. Its a fine day to be driving, the sun is breaking through the low cloud and mist, making for a pleasant drive.
I have also judged the fuel well, so don't need to refill before stopping at the car hire office.
They give it the once over, I tell them the things which are not working on te brand new car, they make notes, and I am done.
Emma drives me back to St Maggies, dropping me off on Station Road. I walk along to Chez Jelltex, check the garden for new flowers and growth, then go onside.
The cats sleep on, and I am overcome with weariness. MY knee is aching, I am out of painkillers, but massage it, nd its a little better.
I have brunch and a brew, listen to some podcasts, have a shower, unpack the suitcase.
Phew.
It now stays light until gone six, meaning we could have gone for a walk before dinner. But not at the moment. So I cook hash for dinner, which was ten minutes away from being done by the time Jools got home.
So we eat and drink wine.
One day and the weekend will be here.
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A chocolate-box church in a well-maintained churchyard. The nave is twelfth century in date, remodelled in the fourteenth century when the present roof was constructed. The chancel is also early but was reconstructed in the sixteenth century. A north aisle was added in 1890. The character of the church derives almost entirely from the nineteenth-and twentieth-century furnishings with which it is blessed. The rood screen is of the correct proportion and design and in the main dates from 1894 with minimal amounts of old woodwork. The wonderful figures on top are of 1908 and were designed by Sir Ninian Comper - the angels balance on their wheels like unicyclists! Comper also designed the wall paintings in the chancel, the altar, reredos and canopy. In the north aisle is an interesting collection of furnishings. There is a painted tile picture of Kemsing by the Kent artist Donald Maxwell, one of only a handful to survive. The central window is of two bishops and is typical of Comper's work, but it does not carry his usual signature of a strawberry plant. The west window of the north aisle is by Douglas Strachan, 1935, and is an excellent example of his angular figures. By the font is a bronze Arts and Crafts panel of the Virgin and Child by Henry Wilson, the famous turn-of-the-century designer who lived in a neighbouring village and whose work may also be found in the churchyard.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Kemsing
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KEMSING.
THE next parish eastward from Otford is KEMSING, called in the Testa de Nevil, CAMESING, and in the Textus Rossensis, CIMICINGA. (fn. 1) The name of this place seems to have been given to it from some royal camp or fortress, situated here.
THIS PARISH of Kemsing, from its situation, is not much known or frequented, nor is it a pleasant one. It lies partly in the valley and partly on the chalk hills, at a small distance southward from the foot of which the village is situated, at the intersection of the roads from Otford to Ightham, and from the chalk hills to the high road by Seal Chart. Near the centre of it is a water, called St. Edith's well, who was a famous female saint, said to have been born in this parish, and to have wrought many miracles for such as applied to her for relief. (fn. 2) The parish is about two miles square; the soil of it, in the northern part, is mostly chalk, in the southern very fertile, it has about one hundred acres of wood; in the eastern part of it is the seat of Crowdleham, situated near the boundary of the parish of Ightham.
There was a market antiently kept here on a Monday, by grant from king Henry III. which has been long since discontinued, and a fair, which is still kept on Easter Monday. (fn. 3) There was an old knightly family, who took their surname from this place, being called Kempsing, whose coat of arms was, Argent, a sess and chevron, interlaced sable, which was quartered by the Harts of Lullingstone, in right of Peche, who married the heir general of it. (fn. 4)
IN THE SCUTAGE, levied as well on the prelates as the rest of the barons, in the 32d of king Henry II. being the seventh of that reign, towards the expences of the army in Wales. The honour of Kemesing, as it is there called, then being in the king's hands, answered for twenty-nine shillings by the hands of the sheriff of the county. (fn. 5) Soon after which it came into the possession of the earl of Albermarle, who held it of Walter Fitzhelt, as he again did of the king in capite.
In the reign of king John, Baldwin de Betun, who, by favour of king Richard I. had enjoyed the earldom of Albermarle, in Hawis his wife's right, who was daughter land sole heir of William le Gross, earl of Albermarle, was owner of this place, and in the 5th year of that reign granted the lordships of Kemesing, Braborne, and Sutton, in this county, to William Mareschal, earl of Pembroke, with Alice, his sole daughter and heir, in frank marriage. (fn. 6)
In the reign of king John he attached himself closely to the rebellious barons, when his lands were seised on, as escheats to the crown; and this manor, then valued at thirty-six pounds per annum, as appears by the Testa de Nevil, was granted to Fulke de Brent; on the confiscation of whose estates, and the earl's return to his obedience, he again came into possession of it, which happened on the king's death, his father having persuaded him to return to his loyalty once more, and he had many favours conferred on him by king Henry III. in the 7th year of whose reign he had, for his good services against the Welsh, scutage of all his tenants in this and other counties. In the 10th year of that reign, his first wife being dead, he married Alianore, the king's sister, by which he greatly incurred his displeasure; but a reconciliation quickly after taking place, he was again taken into favour, and in the 14th year of that reign had a confirmation of the manors of Kemsing, Braborne, and Sutton, in this county, upon condition, that in case Alianore, his wife, survived him, she should enjoy them during life. (fn. 7) He died possessed of Kemsing in the 15th year of that reign without issue, and lies buried in the Temple church, having his effigies cross legged on his tomb; on which the sheriff of this county had the king's precept to make livery to Alianore, his widow, of those manors. She, after seven years widowhood, remarried Simon de Montford, earl of Leicester, and steward of England, in St. Stephen's chapel, Westminster, the king giving her away with his own hand.
In the 45th year of that reign, the earl of Leicester, heading the discontented barons against the king, continued with them till the battle of Evesham, in the 49th year of it, in which the earl was killed; after whose death, the countess Alianore and her children were forced to forsake England, and she died some time afterwards in the nunnery of Montarges, in France.
In the mean time the four brothers of William earl of Pembroke, successively earls of Pembroke, being dead without issue, their inheritance became divided between the heirs of their five sisters and coheirs; and upon the partition of their interest in the manor of Kemsing, it seems to have become the sole property of Roger, eldest son of Maud the eldest sister, by her husband, Hugh Bigod, earl of Norfolk, (fn. 8) though the time of his coming into the possession of it. I do not find, as Alianore, second wife of William earl of Pembroke, was then living, who was entitled to it for her life.
Roger earl of Norfolk, and marshal of England, who bore for his arms, Per pale or and vert, a lion rampant gules, died of a bruise, which he received at a tour nament, about the 54th of Henry III.'s reign, leaving no issue by Isabel his wife, daughter of William king of Scots; upon which he was succeeded, as earl of Norfolk and marshal of the king's palace, as well as in the possession of this manor, by Roger his nephew, son of Hugh his brother, chief justice of England, (fn. 9) who, in the 7th of king Edward I. claimed, before the justices itinerant, large privileges for this manor; (fn. 10) and afterwards, in the 11th year of that reign, sold it, together with the advowson of this church, to Otho de Grandison, descended of a family, who were of the dukedom of Burgundy, in France, their residence there being called Grandison castle, a man of great account with that prince, who employed him much, and conferred many favours on him.
In the 18th year of that reign, he obtained free warren for all his demesne lands in Kemsing, (fn. 11) and having had summons to parliament among the barons of this realm, he departed this life without issue, leaving William de Grandison, his brother, his next heir; who died possessed of this manor, leaving by his wife, Sibilla, youngest daughter, and one of the coheirs of John de Tregoze, three sons; Peter de Grandison, his eldest son and heir, who, as well as his father, had summons to parliament; John bishop of Exeter; and Otho; and four daughters. (fn. 12)
On his death this manor became the property of Otho, the youngest son, who paid aid for it, in the 20th of king Edward III. as half a knight's fee, which William de Grandison before held in Kemsing of the earl of Leicester. He died possessed of this manor in the 33d year of that reign, (fn. 13) leaving by Beatrix his wife, daughter and coheir of Nicholas Malmains, one son and heir, Thomas, and a daughter, Elizabeth.
Thomas de Grandison, being of full age, had possession granted of this manor, among others; he was afterwards knighted, and died possessed of it in the 50th year of king Edward III. without issue, leaving Margaret his wife surviving, who likewise possessed it at her decease, in the 18th year of king Richard II. After which it came to Sir William de Bryene, or Bryan, who died possessed of it in the 19th year of the same reign, and lies buried in Seale church.
After his death, Sir William Fynes (whose name was originally spelt Fiennes, but about this time came to be written both Fynes and Fenys) became possessed of it, bearing for his arms, Azure, three lions rampant or. He was son of William Fiennes and Joane his wife, third sister and coheir of William de Say; and by Elizabeth his wife, daughter and heir of William Batisford, left issue two sons, Roger and James; from the former of which were descended the several lords Dacre of the south; and from the latter, the viscounts Say and Seale, both which titles are now extinct, (fn. 14) and the present lord Say and Sele.
James, the second son, above mentioned, possessed this manor, and in the 14th of king Henry, VI. was sheriff of this county, and soon afterwards made esquire of the body to that king. In the 24th year of whose reign, being then a knight, he was, by reason that Joane his grandmother was third sister and coheir of William de Say, by a special writ, on March 3d, next year, summoned to Parliament by the title of lord Say and Sele; (fn. 15) and two days afterwards, in consideration of his eminent services, he was, in open parliament, advanced to the dignity of a baron of this realm, by the above title, to him and his heirs male, and in the 27th year of that reign, he had a full confirmation and release of that title from John, lord Clinton, and of the arms of Say, which, on account of his descent from Idonea, the eldest sister of William de Say, might belong to him. In consideration of which he then granted to the lord Clinton, all advowsons of churches, knights fees, &c. which belonged to the latter, by reason of the lordship of Say. (fn. 16)
After which he obtained a grant of the office of constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, to him and his heirs male; was made lord chamberlain, and one of the king's council, and next year lord treasurer of England.
This rise to so high a pitch of honour, increased the hatred of the commons towards him, and served but to make his fall the more sudden and unhappy, for next year they accused him and others in the parliament held at St. Edmunds Bury, of treason, for having ing assented to the release of Anjou, and the delivery of Maine to the French; upon which the king, to appease them, sequestered him from his office of treasurer, and shortly after, on the insurrection of the Kentish men, under Jack Cade, observing their clamour against him, to mitigate it, he committed him prisoner to the tower; shortly after which, this riotous mob entering London, and finding their numbers increase, fetched him thence to Guildhall, and there arraigned him before the lord-mayor, and other the king's justices, notwithstanding his request to be tried by his peers; after which hurrying him to the standard in Cheapside, they cut off his head there, and carried it about on a pole, causing his naked body to be drawn at a horse's tail into Southwark, and there hanged and quartered, though his body was afterwards buried in the church of the Grey Friars, London. (fn. 17)
He left issue, by Emeline Cromer his wife, one son and heir, Sir William Fienes, who was that year, by special writ, summoned to parliament, being seized of an estate tail of the office of constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, by virtue of the patent above-mentioned, to James, his father, his interest in which he soon afterwards sold to Humphry, duke of Buckingham, and his heirs male.
The unhappy contention subsisting at that time between the houses of York and Lancaster for the throne, in which he risqued not only his person, but his whole fortune, brought him into great distresses, and necessitated him to mortgage, and fell the greatest part of his lands. (fn. 18) He married Margaret the daughter and heir of William Wickham, great-grandson of Agnes, sister to William of Wickham, founder of New College, Oxford. The lands of the lord Say being thus alienated the barony lay dormant, and the heirs male of the family were only called Fienes. Henry, his son and heir, though he used the title of lord Say, had never summons to parliament, and it remained unclaimed till the year 1733, when it was claimed by John Twisleton, esq. of Broughton, in Oxfordshire, descended by the female line from the above Sir William Fienes, lord Say and Sele, which claim, though it then failed, was renewed by his son Thomas, who was summoned to parliament as lord Say and Sele, in 1781, and was father to the present Gregory, lord Say and Sele. In the second year of king Edward IV. Sir William Fienes, lord Say and Sele, mentioned above, sold this manor of Kemsing to Sir Geoffry Bulleyn, (fn. 19) a wealthy mercer of London, who had been lord mayor in the 37th year of king Henry VI. whose grandson Thomas, was sheriff of this county in the 3d and 9th years of Henry VIII. and became a man of great note in that reign; for the king in his 3d year made him one of the knights of his body, and afterwards embassador several times to the emperor, and the kings of France and Spain, and in the 17th year of his reign, on account of the great affection which he bore to the lady Anne Bulleyn, his daughter, advanced him to the title of viscount Rochford; and in his 21st year, created him, being then knight of the garter, earl of Wiltshire and Ormond, and made him lord privy seal. (fn. 20) He died in the 30th year of king Henry VIII. possessed of this manor, have ing had by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk, one son, George, executed in his life-time, and two daughters; Anne, wife to king Henry VIII. and Mary, wife of William Carey, esq. of the king's body, and ancestor of the lords Hunsdon, and of the earls of Dover and Monmouth.
George Bulleyn, the son above-mentioned, bearing the title of viscount Rochford in his father's life-time, was, in the 26th year of that reign, made constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, and was much favored by that king, till the time of his change of affection from queen Anne Bulleyn; when the king, to make the path more easy towards the enjoyment of his new passion, in a sudden and unexpected gust of anger, in his 28th year, committed him to the tower, a few days after which, he was arraigned and beheaded, having had no issue, and was buried in St. Peter's chapel in the tower. (fn. 21)
On the death of the earl of Wiltshire without male issue, the king seized on this manor, in right of his late wife, the unfortunate Anne Bulleyn, the earl's elder daughter; and it remained in his hands till the 32d year of his reign, when by his indenture that year, reciting, that as the most noble lady, Anne of Cleves, daugh ter of John, late duke of Cleve, &c. came into his realm of England, on a certain treaty of marriage between himself and the said lady Anne; which marriage, although celebrated in the face of the church, yet was never consummated, for the conditions of it were never performed in due time, and there being other great and important causes, on account of which the convocation of the realm, with assent of the parties, and of the parliament, had declared the marriage to be invalid, there being no prospect of any children from it, notwithstanding which, the said lady was contented to conform to the laws of the realm, and to free herself and her conscience of the said marriage, and to remain at liberty within the realm; therefore the king, considering her high birth and nobility, of his especial grace and favour, granted her, for the maintenance of her noble estate, among other premises, his manors of Hever, Seale, and Kemsing, and his park of Hever, with all their rights, members, and appurtenances, late belonging to Thomas, earl of Wiltshire, deceased, and then in the king's hands; and all messuages, lands and hereditaments whatsoever, in Hever, Seale, and Kemsing, lately purchased by the king of Sir James Bulleyn, and William Bulleyn, clerk, to hold to her during life, so long as she should stay within the realm of England, and not depart out of it, without the licence of the king and his successors, and the king granted the premises free and discharged of all outgoings, rents, pensions, &c. except among others of forty shillings, issuing yearly out of the lands of John Tybolde, called Seale Park. (fn. 22)
¶The lady Ann of Cleves died possessed of these manors and estates in the 4th and 5th year of king Philip and queen Mary, when they reverted again to the crown; where the manors of Seale and Kemsing, and the other premises in those parishes, lay till queen Elizabeth, in her first year, granted them to her kinsman, Sir Henry Carey, whom she had advanced that year to the title of lord Hunsdon, baron of Hunsdon, in Hertfordshire, to hold in capite by knights service. (fn. 23) He was descended of an antient family, seated at Cockington, in Devonshire; one of whom was Sir Robert Carey, who in the beginning of king Henry V's reign, acquired great renown by his encountering and overcoming an Arragonian knight, who had performed many notable feats of arms in different countries, and then came to make trial of his prowess here in England, in a long and doubtful combat in Smithfield; for which he was by the king knighted, and restored to part of his father's inheritance, which had been forfeited. From which time he bore, as by the law of arms he might, the coat armour of the vanquished knight, viz. Argent, on a bend sable, three roses of the field barbed and seeded proper; the present bearing of this family: their antient bearing before this being, Gules, a chevron argent between three swans proper; one of which they still retain for their crest. His son was William Carey, who being in the battle of Tewksbury, in the 10th year of king Edward IV. on the part of the Lancastrians, upon the loss of that day, was taken prisoner, and notwithstanding he was promised a pardon, lost his head.
Kemsing is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Rochester, and deanry of Malling.
The church stands on the north side of the village, and is dedicated to St. Edith, whose image, set up in this church-yard, was greatly frequented for the singular benefits she daily dispensed in preserving corn and grain from blasting, mill-dew, and other harm incident to it. (fn. 32) It is a small church, consisting of only one isle and a chancel, having a pointed steeple at the west end, in which are two bells. There are but few monuments or inscriptions in it, in the chancel there is a grave-stone, with the figure of a man, and an inscription in brass in black letter, for Thomas de Hop, and at the east end a mural monument for Michael Jermin, D. D. obt. August 14, 1659, æt. 70. (fn. 33)
In the year 1397, anno 21 king Richard II. the king granted licence to Guy Mone, to give the advowson of the church of Kemsing to the prior and convent of Bermondsey for ever. (fn. 34) In which year they obtained the pope's bull, (fn. 35) to appropriate it with the chapel of Seale annexed to it, to the use and support of their convent; reserving, nevertheless, out of the fruits, rents, and profits of the church and chapel, for a perpetual vicar to be instituted in it by the ordinary, a fit portion, by which he might be maintained, the episcopal dues be paid, and other burthens incumbent on him might be conveniently borne. (fn. 36)
In consequence of which, John (de Bottlesham) bishop of Rochester, by his instrument, dated Oct. 12, anno 1402, (fn. 37) with the consent of the abbot and convent of Bermondesey, endowed the vicarage of this church as follows:
First, he decreed, that there should be a perpetual vicarage, to be held and possessed as a perpetual ecclesiastical benefice in the church of Kemsing, which he endowed out of the fruits, rents, and profits of the said church and the chapel of Seale; the vicar of which, who should be intitled to it, by the abbot and convent, proprietaries of this church, should be from time to time presented to the bishop and his successors, and inducted by the archdeacon; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent, and their successors, proprietaries of it, in right of the same, should take, have, and freely enjoy, all and every kind of great tythes, viz. of corn, of whatsoever sort it be, and of hay, growing within the bounds and limits, or titheable places of the church and chapel, the tithe of the grange or field of Budirevere within this parish only excepted; and he ordained, that the repair of the chancel of the church, in the walls, glass windows, and roof, and also the paying of all papal and royal tenths and procurations, and the procurations of legates of the apostolic see, of archbishops, bishops, and archdeacons, (the bishop and his church of Rochester being always saved harmless, on account of this appropriation) should belong to the abbot and convent, and their successors, to be paid and performed at their costs and expences; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent, and their successors, should cause forty pence in money, or meat and drink of as much value, to be yearly distributed to, and bestowed on, the poor, and more indigent parishioners of the church of Kemsing, towards their relief and support, out of the profits of the church; and he ordained, that the tithes of the food of all animals, and of pidgeons, and other titheable matters accruing within the rectory, and the straw of the church and chapel, so long as the rectory should remain in the hands of the abbot and convent, and be in no wife let to ferm, should belong to them, as proprietaries of the parish church; but if the same should be let to ferm, then he ordained, that the tithes of the food of animals, &c. as above-mentioned, should belong to the vicar of the vicarage of the same, for the time being, for ever, with this exception however, that if the abbot and convent should let to ferm any of their stock, with the rectory, no tithe should be taken of that stock; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent should cause to be built at their costs and expences, for that time only, a competent dwelling on a part of the glebe and soil of the rectory allotted for that purpose, in which he ordained, that the vicar for the time being should reside; and he ordained, that the portion of the vicar should be as follows: that he should take and have all oblations and obventions of the altar, as well in the parish church of Kemsing, as in the chapel of Seale, and the small tythes, of what kind or nature soever they be, accruing within the parish of the said church and chapel, and the titheable places of the same, and also all great and small tithes whatsoever, in and of the grange or field called Budyrevere, within the bounds and limits of the parish of the church of Kemsing; and he ordained, that the vicar for the time being should have the cure of all and singular the parishioners of the said church and chapel, and that he should find, at his own costs and expences, a proper chaplain to celebrate divine offices in the said chapel, and duly administer the sacraments and ecclesiastical sacramentals in the same, and also the bread, wine, and lights, necessary and accustomed at the celebrating divine offices in the said church and chapel; and, lastly, he pronounced and declared, that the above was a sufficient and competent portion for the vicar, and such as from it he would be able to support himself, to keep hospitality, and conveniently support the burthens incumbent on him. Which endowment was confirmed by the abbot and convent the day after, under their common seal. (fn. 38)
The above appropriation and endowment was confirmed by John Langdon, bishop of Rochester, in 1422, who further ordained, with the consent of the abbot and convent, that no future vicar might have any cause to complain, that he should receive yearly, from the abbot and convent, fourteen shillings of English money, beyond the portion before assigned to him as before-mentioned; and it was then agreed between the bishop and the abbot and convent, that the bishop should receive in future, out of the fruits and profits of the said church and chapel, 6s. 8d. yearly of English money, as an indemnity to the church of Rochester for any injury it might have received, by reason of the appropriation of this church and chapel.
All which was confirmed by the abbot and convent, under their common seal, the day and year abovementioned. (fn. 39)
On the dissolution of the monastery of St. Saviour's, Bermondesey, which happened in the 29th year of king Henry VIII. this church, with the chapel of Seale annexed was surrendered, among the rest of the possessions of that house, into the king's hands, and became part of the possessions of the crown, after which queen Elizabeth granted this rectory to Sir Peter Manwood; in king Charles I's reign, it was in the possession of James Bunce, esq. whose descendant, James Bunce, esq. of Crowdleham, in this parish, is the present owner of it.
But the advowson of the vicarage seems to have been granted, with the manor of Kemsing, to Henry Carey, lord Hunsdon, since which it has continued unalienated, for many generations, the property of the earls and dukes of Dorset, and is now in the possession of his grace John Frederick duke of Dorset.
In the 15th year of king Edward I. this church was valued at fifteen marcs. (fn. 40)
¶By virtue of the commission of enquiry into the value of church livings, in 1650, issuing out of chancery, it was returned, that here was a parsonage and vicarage; the parsonage tithes being about forty pounds per annum, and the glebe land thereunto belonging, worth ten pounds, master Bunce being patron, but it was then sequestered, and that the vicarage, tythes, and house, were worth one hundred pounds per annum; that there was issuing out of the parsonage to the vicar, by composition from the abbot, two pounds per annum, and by the will of master Bunce six pounds per annum, in all eighteen pounds, master Barton then incumbent. (fn. 41)
This vicarage, with Seale annexed, is valued in the king's books at 19l. 13s. 4d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 9s. 4d.
www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol3/pp32-50
St Mary, Kemsing, Kent I am mad.
Clearly.
I have all day to travel back home, but here I am , catching the six o'clock ferry from East Cowes, sitting now on the deck, taking photographs as we cast off.
Because I am mad.
I have a couple of places to visit on the way home, so I catch the early ferry, missing breakfast at the hotel. I could have had breakfast and caught the ferry at nine, but that would have meant battling traffic in and out of Newport due to the Floating Bridge being out of action.
So here I am.
Taking shots.
It is the blue hour. Or is it the pink hour in the morning?
I don't know. But sunrise is half an hour away, the engines tone rises, calm water on the river turn to foam, and we move off.
Once the ferry leaves the river, I go back downstairs and buy a coffee and a Twix, then go to the back lounge to see the island blend into the murk of dawn's shadows.
The ferry is only 10% full, so plenty of room to spread out and pretend that there's no other people about. I could have gone back up to snap Southampton in the golden light as the sun had risen, but instead I just sit and wait for the call to return to your cars.
I program the sat nav, so once we were docked and tied up, I was one of the first off, and was soon heading north to the motorway and away from the Southampton rush hour.
Traffic was heavy, but I made good progress, allowing me to stop at Fleet services for breakfast in Costa, before pressing on to the M25 and the chaos that drive east would be.
Traffic much heavier than it was three weeks back, meaning I was half an hour later, which I didn't mind, as the church I planned to visit would be more likely to be unlocked at half nine rather than nine.
West Kent is picturesque, full of pretty villages full of former merchant's houses, now seamlessly turned into what used to be called the stockbroker belt.
Otford was a village, now a suburb of Sevenoaks, the ancient centre of the village is around the pond, and around the edge of the green is the pub and the church.
A parking space outside the papershop offered half an hour's free parking, so I abandoned the car there and limped over the main road to the church, showing well through the bare trees, just waking up as spring arrives.
A modern church centre sits to the north, and having tried the west and south doors, I try going through the church centre, and the doors swing open into the church, no one else was inside.
There was a grand monument, the west wall covered in hatchings and the east window in the Chancel had several Flemish painted panels of saints arranged into a cross.
I take many, many shots.
I am back at the car within the half hour, and a three mile drive away through the rolling countryside is the next target, Kemsing.
We had been here before, but the porch door was locked, but the parish website promised it would be open from nine. And it was.
John Vigar's description stated that access to the Chancel would not be possible, which confused me, but the large arts and crafts recreation of the rood screen, was locked, and the door through the vestry was also out of bounds.
So I took shots through the screen, not ideal, but better than nothing, and I think they came out well.
It was time to go home. So, back in the car I program my phone, and it leads me back to the M20, and from there I know the way.
Lots of trucks and lorries also heading south, but I cruise past them. Its a fine day to be driving, the sun is breaking through the low cloud and mist, making for a pleasant drive.
I have also judged the fuel well, so don't need to refill before stopping at the car hire office.
They give it the once over, I tell them the things which are not working on te brand new car, they make notes, and I am done.
Emma drives me back to St Maggies, dropping me off on Station Road. I walk along to Chez Jelltex, check the garden for new flowers and growth, then go onside.
The cats sleep on, and I am overcome with weariness. MY knee is aching, I am out of painkillers, but massage it, nd its a little better.
I have brunch and a brew, listen to some podcasts, have a shower, unpack the suitcase.
Phew.
It now stays light until gone six, meaning we could have gone for a walk before dinner. But not at the moment. So I cook hash for dinner, which was ten minutes away from being done by the time Jools got home.
So we eat and drink wine.
One day and the weekend will be here.
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A chocolate-box church in a well-maintained churchyard. The nave is twelfth century in date, remodelled in the fourteenth century when the present roof was constructed. The chancel is also early but was reconstructed in the sixteenth century. A north aisle was added in 1890. The character of the church derives almost entirely from the nineteenth-and twentieth-century furnishings with which it is blessed. The rood screen is of the correct proportion and design and in the main dates from 1894 with minimal amounts of old woodwork. The wonderful figures on top are of 1908 and were designed by Sir Ninian Comper - the angels balance on their wheels like unicyclists! Comper also designed the wall paintings in the chancel, the altar, reredos and canopy. In the north aisle is an interesting collection of furnishings. There is a painted tile picture of Kemsing by the Kent artist Donald Maxwell, one of only a handful to survive. The central window is of two bishops and is typical of Comper's work, but it does not carry his usual signature of a strawberry plant. The west window of the north aisle is by Douglas Strachan, 1935, and is an excellent example of his angular figures. By the font is a bronze Arts and Crafts panel of the Virgin and Child by Henry Wilson, the famous turn-of-the-century designer who lived in a neighbouring village and whose work may also be found in the churchyard.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Kemsing
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KEMSING.
THE next parish eastward from Otford is KEMSING, called in the Testa de Nevil, CAMESING, and in the Textus Rossensis, CIMICINGA. (fn. 1) The name of this place seems to have been given to it from some royal camp or fortress, situated here.
THIS PARISH of Kemsing, from its situation, is not much known or frequented, nor is it a pleasant one. It lies partly in the valley and partly on the chalk hills, at a small distance southward from the foot of which the village is situated, at the intersection of the roads from Otford to Ightham, and from the chalk hills to the high road by Seal Chart. Near the centre of it is a water, called St. Edith's well, who was a famous female saint, said to have been born in this parish, and to have wrought many miracles for such as applied to her for relief. (fn. 2) The parish is about two miles square; the soil of it, in the northern part, is mostly chalk, in the southern very fertile, it has about one hundred acres of wood; in the eastern part of it is the seat of Crowdleham, situated near the boundary of the parish of Ightham.
There was a market antiently kept here on a Monday, by grant from king Henry III. which has been long since discontinued, and a fair, which is still kept on Easter Monday. (fn. 3) There was an old knightly family, who took their surname from this place, being called Kempsing, whose coat of arms was, Argent, a sess and chevron, interlaced sable, which was quartered by the Harts of Lullingstone, in right of Peche, who married the heir general of it. (fn. 4)
IN THE SCUTAGE, levied as well on the prelates as the rest of the barons, in the 32d of king Henry II. being the seventh of that reign, towards the expences of the army in Wales. The honour of Kemesing, as it is there called, then being in the king's hands, answered for twenty-nine shillings by the hands of the sheriff of the county. (fn. 5) Soon after which it came into the possession of the earl of Albermarle, who held it of Walter Fitzhelt, as he again did of the king in capite.
In the reign of king John, Baldwin de Betun, who, by favour of king Richard I. had enjoyed the earldom of Albermarle, in Hawis his wife's right, who was daughter land sole heir of William le Gross, earl of Albermarle, was owner of this place, and in the 5th year of that reign granted the lordships of Kemesing, Braborne, and Sutton, in this county, to William Mareschal, earl of Pembroke, with Alice, his sole daughter and heir, in frank marriage. (fn. 6)
In the reign of king John he attached himself closely to the rebellious barons, when his lands were seised on, as escheats to the crown; and this manor, then valued at thirty-six pounds per annum, as appears by the Testa de Nevil, was granted to Fulke de Brent; on the confiscation of whose estates, and the earl's return to his obedience, he again came into possession of it, which happened on the king's death, his father having persuaded him to return to his loyalty once more, and he had many favours conferred on him by king Henry III. in the 7th year of whose reign he had, for his good services against the Welsh, scutage of all his tenants in this and other counties. In the 10th year of that reign, his first wife being dead, he married Alianore, the king's sister, by which he greatly incurred his displeasure; but a reconciliation quickly after taking place, he was again taken into favour, and in the 14th year of that reign had a confirmation of the manors of Kemsing, Braborne, and Sutton, in this county, upon condition, that in case Alianore, his wife, survived him, she should enjoy them during life. (fn. 7) He died possessed of Kemsing in the 15th year of that reign without issue, and lies buried in the Temple church, having his effigies cross legged on his tomb; on which the sheriff of this county had the king's precept to make livery to Alianore, his widow, of those manors. She, after seven years widowhood, remarried Simon de Montford, earl of Leicester, and steward of England, in St. Stephen's chapel, Westminster, the king giving her away with his own hand.
In the 45th year of that reign, the earl of Leicester, heading the discontented barons against the king, continued with them till the battle of Evesham, in the 49th year of it, in which the earl was killed; after whose death, the countess Alianore and her children were forced to forsake England, and she died some time afterwards in the nunnery of Montarges, in France.
In the mean time the four brothers of William earl of Pembroke, successively earls of Pembroke, being dead without issue, their inheritance became divided between the heirs of their five sisters and coheirs; and upon the partition of their interest in the manor of Kemsing, it seems to have become the sole property of Roger, eldest son of Maud the eldest sister, by her husband, Hugh Bigod, earl of Norfolk, (fn. 8) though the time of his coming into the possession of it. I do not find, as Alianore, second wife of William earl of Pembroke, was then living, who was entitled to it for her life.
Roger earl of Norfolk, and marshal of England, who bore for his arms, Per pale or and vert, a lion rampant gules, died of a bruise, which he received at a tour nament, about the 54th of Henry III.'s reign, leaving no issue by Isabel his wife, daughter of William king of Scots; upon which he was succeeded, as earl of Norfolk and marshal of the king's palace, as well as in the possession of this manor, by Roger his nephew, son of Hugh his brother, chief justice of England, (fn. 9) who, in the 7th of king Edward I. claimed, before the justices itinerant, large privileges for this manor; (fn. 10) and afterwards, in the 11th year of that reign, sold it, together with the advowson of this church, to Otho de Grandison, descended of a family, who were of the dukedom of Burgundy, in France, their residence there being called Grandison castle, a man of great account with that prince, who employed him much, and conferred many favours on him.
In the 18th year of that reign, he obtained free warren for all his demesne lands in Kemsing, (fn. 11) and having had summons to parliament among the barons of this realm, he departed this life without issue, leaving William de Grandison, his brother, his next heir; who died possessed of this manor, leaving by his wife, Sibilla, youngest daughter, and one of the coheirs of John de Tregoze, three sons; Peter de Grandison, his eldest son and heir, who, as well as his father, had summons to parliament; John bishop of Exeter; and Otho; and four daughters. (fn. 12)
On his death this manor became the property of Otho, the youngest son, who paid aid for it, in the 20th of king Edward III. as half a knight's fee, which William de Grandison before held in Kemsing of the earl of Leicester. He died possessed of this manor in the 33d year of that reign, (fn. 13) leaving by Beatrix his wife, daughter and coheir of Nicholas Malmains, one son and heir, Thomas, and a daughter, Elizabeth.
Thomas de Grandison, being of full age, had possession granted of this manor, among others; he was afterwards knighted, and died possessed of it in the 50th year of king Edward III. without issue, leaving Margaret his wife surviving, who likewise possessed it at her decease, in the 18th year of king Richard II. After which it came to Sir William de Bryene, or Bryan, who died possessed of it in the 19th year of the same reign, and lies buried in Seale church.
After his death, Sir William Fynes (whose name was originally spelt Fiennes, but about this time came to be written both Fynes and Fenys) became possessed of it, bearing for his arms, Azure, three lions rampant or. He was son of William Fiennes and Joane his wife, third sister and coheir of William de Say; and by Elizabeth his wife, daughter and heir of William Batisford, left issue two sons, Roger and James; from the former of which were descended the several lords Dacre of the south; and from the latter, the viscounts Say and Seale, both which titles are now extinct, (fn. 14) and the present lord Say and Sele.
James, the second son, above mentioned, possessed this manor, and in the 14th of king Henry, VI. was sheriff of this county, and soon afterwards made esquire of the body to that king. In the 24th year of whose reign, being then a knight, he was, by reason that Joane his grandmother was third sister and coheir of William de Say, by a special writ, on March 3d, next year, summoned to Parliament by the title of lord Say and Sele; (fn. 15) and two days afterwards, in consideration of his eminent services, he was, in open parliament, advanced to the dignity of a baron of this realm, by the above title, to him and his heirs male, and in the 27th year of that reign, he had a full confirmation and release of that title from John, lord Clinton, and of the arms of Say, which, on account of his descent from Idonea, the eldest sister of William de Say, might belong to him. In consideration of which he then granted to the lord Clinton, all advowsons of churches, knights fees, &c. which belonged to the latter, by reason of the lordship of Say. (fn. 16)
After which he obtained a grant of the office of constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, to him and his heirs male; was made lord chamberlain, and one of the king's council, and next year lord treasurer of England.
This rise to so high a pitch of honour, increased the hatred of the commons towards him, and served but to make his fall the more sudden and unhappy, for next year they accused him and others in the parliament held at St. Edmunds Bury, of treason, for having ing assented to the release of Anjou, and the delivery of Maine to the French; upon which the king, to appease them, sequestered him from his office of treasurer, and shortly after, on the insurrection of the Kentish men, under Jack Cade, observing their clamour against him, to mitigate it, he committed him prisoner to the tower; shortly after which, this riotous mob entering London, and finding their numbers increase, fetched him thence to Guildhall, and there arraigned him before the lord-mayor, and other the king's justices, notwithstanding his request to be tried by his peers; after which hurrying him to the standard in Cheapside, they cut off his head there, and carried it about on a pole, causing his naked body to be drawn at a horse's tail into Southwark, and there hanged and quartered, though his body was afterwards buried in the church of the Grey Friars, London. (fn. 17)
He left issue, by Emeline Cromer his wife, one son and heir, Sir William Fienes, who was that year, by special writ, summoned to parliament, being seized of an estate tail of the office of constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, by virtue of the patent above-mentioned, to James, his father, his interest in which he soon afterwards sold to Humphry, duke of Buckingham, and his heirs male.
The unhappy contention subsisting at that time between the houses of York and Lancaster for the throne, in which he risqued not only his person, but his whole fortune, brought him into great distresses, and necessitated him to mortgage, and fell the greatest part of his lands. (fn. 18) He married Margaret the daughter and heir of William Wickham, great-grandson of Agnes, sister to William of Wickham, founder of New College, Oxford. The lands of the lord Say being thus alienated the barony lay dormant, and the heirs male of the family were only called Fienes. Henry, his son and heir, though he used the title of lord Say, had never summons to parliament, and it remained unclaimed till the year 1733, when it was claimed by John Twisleton, esq. of Broughton, in Oxfordshire, descended by the female line from the above Sir William Fienes, lord Say and Sele, which claim, though it then failed, was renewed by his son Thomas, who was summoned to parliament as lord Say and Sele, in 1781, and was father to the present Gregory, lord Say and Sele. In the second year of king Edward IV. Sir William Fienes, lord Say and Sele, mentioned above, sold this manor of Kemsing to Sir Geoffry Bulleyn, (fn. 19) a wealthy mercer of London, who had been lord mayor in the 37th year of king Henry VI. whose grandson Thomas, was sheriff of this county in the 3d and 9th years of Henry VIII. and became a man of great note in that reign; for the king in his 3d year made him one of the knights of his body, and afterwards embassador several times to the emperor, and the kings of France and Spain, and in the 17th year of his reign, on account of the great affection which he bore to the lady Anne Bulleyn, his daughter, advanced him to the title of viscount Rochford; and in his 21st year, created him, being then knight of the garter, earl of Wiltshire and Ormond, and made him lord privy seal. (fn. 20) He died in the 30th year of king Henry VIII. possessed of this manor, have ing had by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk, one son, George, executed in his life-time, and two daughters; Anne, wife to king Henry VIII. and Mary, wife of William Carey, esq. of the king's body, and ancestor of the lords Hunsdon, and of the earls of Dover and Monmouth.
George Bulleyn, the son above-mentioned, bearing the title of viscount Rochford in his father's life-time, was, in the 26th year of that reign, made constable of Dover-castle, and warden of the five ports, and was much favored by that king, till the time of his change of affection from queen Anne Bulleyn; when the king, to make the path more easy towards the enjoyment of his new passion, in a sudden and unexpected gust of anger, in his 28th year, committed him to the tower, a few days after which, he was arraigned and beheaded, having had no issue, and was buried in St. Peter's chapel in the tower. (fn. 21)
On the death of the earl of Wiltshire without male issue, the king seized on this manor, in right of his late wife, the unfortunate Anne Bulleyn, the earl's elder daughter; and it remained in his hands till the 32d year of his reign, when by his indenture that year, reciting, that as the most noble lady, Anne of Cleves, daugh ter of John, late duke of Cleve, &c. came into his realm of England, on a certain treaty of marriage between himself and the said lady Anne; which marriage, although celebrated in the face of the church, yet was never consummated, for the conditions of it were never performed in due time, and there being other great and important causes, on account of which the convocation of the realm, with assent of the parties, and of the parliament, had declared the marriage to be invalid, there being no prospect of any children from it, notwithstanding which, the said lady was contented to conform to the laws of the realm, and to free herself and her conscience of the said marriage, and to remain at liberty within the realm; therefore the king, considering her high birth and nobility, of his especial grace and favour, granted her, for the maintenance of her noble estate, among other premises, his manors of Hever, Seale, and Kemsing, and his park of Hever, with all their rights, members, and appurtenances, late belonging to Thomas, earl of Wiltshire, deceased, and then in the king's hands; and all messuages, lands and hereditaments whatsoever, in Hever, Seale, and Kemsing, lately purchased by the king of Sir James Bulleyn, and William Bulleyn, clerk, to hold to her during life, so long as she should stay within the realm of England, and not depart out of it, without the licence of the king and his successors, and the king granted the premises free and discharged of all outgoings, rents, pensions, &c. except among others of forty shillings, issuing yearly out of the lands of John Tybolde, called Seale Park. (fn. 22)
¶The lady Ann of Cleves died possessed of these manors and estates in the 4th and 5th year of king Philip and queen Mary, when they reverted again to the crown; where the manors of Seale and Kemsing, and the other premises in those parishes, lay till queen Elizabeth, in her first year, granted them to her kinsman, Sir Henry Carey, whom she had advanced that year to the title of lord Hunsdon, baron of Hunsdon, in Hertfordshire, to hold in capite by knights service. (fn. 23) He was descended of an antient family, seated at Cockington, in Devonshire; one of whom was Sir Robert Carey, who in the beginning of king Henry V's reign, acquired great renown by his encountering and overcoming an Arragonian knight, who had performed many notable feats of arms in different countries, and then came to make trial of his prowess here in England, in a long and doubtful combat in Smithfield; for which he was by the king knighted, and restored to part of his father's inheritance, which had been forfeited. From which time he bore, as by the law of arms he might, the coat armour of the vanquished knight, viz. Argent, on a bend sable, three roses of the field barbed and seeded proper; the present bearing of this family: their antient bearing before this being, Gules, a chevron argent between three swans proper; one of which they still retain for their crest. His son was William Carey, who being in the battle of Tewksbury, in the 10th year of king Edward IV. on the part of the Lancastrians, upon the loss of that day, was taken prisoner, and notwithstanding he was promised a pardon, lost his head.
Kemsing is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Rochester, and deanry of Malling.
The church stands on the north side of the village, and is dedicated to St. Edith, whose image, set up in this church-yard, was greatly frequented for the singular benefits she daily dispensed in preserving corn and grain from blasting, mill-dew, and other harm incident to it. (fn. 32) It is a small church, consisting of only one isle and a chancel, having a pointed steeple at the west end, in which are two bells. There are but few monuments or inscriptions in it, in the chancel there is a grave-stone, with the figure of a man, and an inscription in brass in black letter, for Thomas de Hop, and at the east end a mural monument for Michael Jermin, D. D. obt. August 14, 1659, æt. 70. (fn. 33)
In the year 1397, anno 21 king Richard II. the king granted licence to Guy Mone, to give the advowson of the church of Kemsing to the prior and convent of Bermondsey for ever. (fn. 34) In which year they obtained the pope's bull, (fn. 35) to appropriate it with the chapel of Seale annexed to it, to the use and support of their convent; reserving, nevertheless, out of the fruits, rents, and profits of the church and chapel, for a perpetual vicar to be instituted in it by the ordinary, a fit portion, by which he might be maintained, the episcopal dues be paid, and other burthens incumbent on him might be conveniently borne. (fn. 36)
In consequence of which, John (de Bottlesham) bishop of Rochester, by his instrument, dated Oct. 12, anno 1402, (fn. 37) with the consent of the abbot and convent of Bermondesey, endowed the vicarage of this church as follows:
First, he decreed, that there should be a perpetual vicarage, to be held and possessed as a perpetual ecclesiastical benefice in the church of Kemsing, which he endowed out of the fruits, rents, and profits of the said church and the chapel of Seale; the vicar of which, who should be intitled to it, by the abbot and convent, proprietaries of this church, should be from time to time presented to the bishop and his successors, and inducted by the archdeacon; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent, and their successors, proprietaries of it, in right of the same, should take, have, and freely enjoy, all and every kind of great tythes, viz. of corn, of whatsoever sort it be, and of hay, growing within the bounds and limits, or titheable places of the church and chapel, the tithe of the grange or field of Budirevere within this parish only excepted; and he ordained, that the repair of the chancel of the church, in the walls, glass windows, and roof, and also the paying of all papal and royal tenths and procurations, and the procurations of legates of the apostolic see, of archbishops, bishops, and archdeacons, (the bishop and his church of Rochester being always saved harmless, on account of this appropriation) should belong to the abbot and convent, and their successors, to be paid and performed at their costs and expences; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent, and their successors, should cause forty pence in money, or meat and drink of as much value, to be yearly distributed to, and bestowed on, the poor, and more indigent parishioners of the church of Kemsing, towards their relief and support, out of the profits of the church; and he ordained, that the tithes of the food of all animals, and of pidgeons, and other titheable matters accruing within the rectory, and the straw of the church and chapel, so long as the rectory should remain in the hands of the abbot and convent, and be in no wife let to ferm, should belong to them, as proprietaries of the parish church; but if the same should be let to ferm, then he ordained, that the tithes of the food of animals, &c. as above-mentioned, should belong to the vicar of the vicarage of the same, for the time being, for ever, with this exception however, that if the abbot and convent should let to ferm any of their stock, with the rectory, no tithe should be taken of that stock; and he ordained, that the abbot and convent should cause to be built at their costs and expences, for that time only, a competent dwelling on a part of the glebe and soil of the rectory allotted for that purpose, in which he ordained, that the vicar for the time being should reside; and he ordained, that the portion of the vicar should be as follows: that he should take and have all oblations and obventions of the altar, as well in the parish church of Kemsing, as in the chapel of Seale, and the small tythes, of what kind or nature soever they be, accruing within the parish of the said church and chapel, and the titheable places of the same, and also all great and small tithes whatsoever, in and of the grange or field called Budyrevere, within the bounds and limits of the parish of the church of Kemsing; and he ordained, that the vicar for the time being should have the cure of all and singular the parishioners of the said church and chapel, and that he should find, at his own costs and expences, a proper chaplain to celebrate divine offices in the said chapel, and duly administer the sacraments and ecclesiastical sacramentals in the same, and also the bread, wine, and lights, necessary and accustomed at the celebrating divine offices in the said church and chapel; and, lastly, he pronounced and declared, that the above was a sufficient and competent portion for the vicar, and such as from it he would be able to support himself, to keep hospitality, and conveniently support the burthens incumbent on him. Which endowment was confirmed by the abbot and convent the day after, under their common seal. (fn. 38)
The above appropriation and endowment was confirmed by John Langdon, bishop of Rochester, in 1422, who further ordained, with the consent of the abbot and convent, that no future vicar might have any cause to complain, that he should receive yearly, from the abbot and convent, fourteen shillings of English money, beyond the portion before assigned to him as before-mentioned; and it was then agreed between the bishop and the abbot and convent, that the bishop should receive in future, out of the fruits and profits of the said church and chapel, 6s. 8d. yearly of English money, as an indemnity to the church of Rochester for any injury it might have received, by reason of the appropriation of this church and chapel.
All which was confirmed by the abbot and convent, under their common seal, the day and year abovementioned. (fn. 39)
On the dissolution of the monastery of St. Saviour's, Bermondesey, which happened in the 29th year of king Henry VIII. this church, with the chapel of Seale annexed was surrendered, among the rest of the possessions of that house, into the king's hands, and became part of the possessions of the crown, after which queen Elizabeth granted this rectory to Sir Peter Manwood; in king Charles I's reign, it was in the possession of James Bunce, esq. whose descendant, James Bunce, esq. of Crowdleham, in this parish, is the present owner of it.
But the advowson of the vicarage seems to have been granted, with the manor of Kemsing, to Henry Carey, lord Hunsdon, since which it has continued unalienated, for many generations, the property of the earls and dukes of Dorset, and is now in the possession of his grace John Frederick duke of Dorset.
In the 15th year of king Edward I. this church was valued at fifteen marcs. (fn. 40)
¶By virtue of the commission of enquiry into the value of church livings, in 1650, issuing out of chancery, it was returned, that here was a parsonage and vicarage; the parsonage tithes being about forty pounds per annum, and the glebe land thereunto belonging, worth ten pounds, master Bunce being patron, but it was then sequestered, and that the vicarage, tythes, and house, were worth one hundred pounds per annum; that there was issuing out of the parsonage to the vicar, by composition from the abbot, two pounds per annum, and by the will of master Bunce six pounds per annum, in all eighteen pounds, master Barton then incumbent. (fn. 41)
This vicarage, with Seale annexed, is valued in the king's books at 19l. 13s. 4d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 9s. 4d.
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