The Saxon Warriors
Perhaps one of the most significant historical discoveries and certainly the earliest indication of a settlement within the area was the unearthing of the Saxon Warriors' grave. Whilst restoration works were being carried out in the shop overhead in January of 1946, one of the builders made the startling revelation by unwittingly slicing his pick-axe through one of the ancient skulls.
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Three bodies were uncovered in all; two men and a woman which are believed to be Saxons from around the sixth century. Across the central warrior's chest, military regalia had been carefully positioned. It is possible that this was the corner grave of a Saxon cemetery.
Following this monumentous discovery the shop was aptly renamed 'The Saxon Warriors' and is now the site of the village pharmacy. There is almost 100 years between the two photographs above but much remains comfortingly familiar:
St Mary's Church & The Tithe Barns |
The original church and the two great adjacent tithe barns were destroyed by arson in 1297 in protest by the villagers of the excessively high taxes imposed by the church. The barns were used to store the tithes that were owed to St Augustine's of Canterbury as a large part of Lenham had belonged to this monasterial order since the ninth century.
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At the beginning of the fourteenth century replacements were built for all three structures, although the church bell tower was not completed until almost a century later.
Today just one of these magnificent barns remains as the other was devastated by fire for a second time in September 1964. Full of freshly harvested hay at the time, the fire burned for three days and required the assistance of twenty-two fire appliances to tame the powerful blaze.
Stanfield House
Stanfield House has loomed majestically over the Square since the early 19th century. It once housed the village doctor's practice before this was transferred to Tithe Yard. At the start of the First World War it operated as a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) and was equipped to provide medical treatment for up to eighteen patients.
The practice doctor, Dr Temperley Grey was elected as commandant and medical officer during this time and his wife dutifully served as one of the detachment nurses. When the war ended, Dr Grey was awarded an OBE for his gallant efforts. He is pictured in the right-hand photo below supporting a paralysed young soldier.
In the latter part of The Great War the wounded soldiers of the Canadian expeditionary force were also nursed at Stanfield House.
The Old Gaol & Workhouse
Remnants of the old Lenham workhouse built in 1723 are incorporated into the brickwork of the Douglas Almshouses just off the Square on Faversham Road. Attached to one end of the row of quaint country cottages is the old gaol which was built in the early part of the nineteenth century and continued to serve as the village gaol until after WWI.
After this time it was used as a mortuary for any unidentified bodies or strangers of the village who had sustained fatal injuries in an accident.
During WWII an inner brick wall was built to reinforce the door and it became a useful, albeit small air raid shelter!
During WWII an inner brick wall was built to reinforce the door and it became a useful, albeit small air raid shelter!
Mary Honywood & Honywood House
Born Mary Atwater in 1527 to Robert Atwater of Royton Manor, when her father passed, Mary and her sister Joyce inherited great wealth as all twelve of their brothers had met their demise at the hands of the plague.
After marrying Robert Honywood and giving birth to sixteen children, it is said that when Mary Honywood died in her 93rd year, she had 367 living descendants, which warranted her pole position in an early edition of the Guiness Book of Records. She was a very prominent, devoutly religious figure of the community and a great benefactress to the village. Although it is said she is buried in the church, the exact location of her grave is unknown.
Her son Anthony built Honywood House as part of his mother's endowment to the village in the year following her death in 1621. This ornately carved bracket figures on the exterior of the property affirm it as a rare example of a 'no-expense spared' construction of this period, particularly for such a small building for such humble intentions. Known initially as The Governor's House as it was originally built for the Governor of the charity.
It later became almshouses and was thereby referred to as The High House. Only following its restoration which took place around 1900 did it become commonly known as Honywood House.
After marrying Robert Honywood and giving birth to sixteen children, it is said that when Mary Honywood died in her 93rd year, she had 367 living descendants, which warranted her pole position in an early edition of the Guiness Book of Records. She was a very prominent, devoutly religious figure of the community and a great benefactress to the village. Although it is said she is buried in the church, the exact location of her grave is unknown.
Her son Anthony built Honywood House as part of his mother's endowment to the village in the year following her death in 1621. This ornately carved bracket figures on the exterior of the property affirm it as a rare example of a 'no-expense spared' construction of this period, particularly for such a small building for such humble intentions. Known initially as The Governor's House as it was originally built for the Governor of the charity.
It later became almshouses and was thereby referred to as The High House. Only following its restoration which took place around 1900 did it become commonly known as Honywood House.