Chart and Westbury manors for sale (1832)

Post date: Feb 25, 2012 6:32:29 PM

Extract from Morning Post 25 June 1832:

KENT, near Maidstone. — Manors, Quit Rents, Heriots, etc, Manor House, Farm, and 255 Acres of Land.— To be SOLD by PRIVATE CONTRACT the MANORS of CHART and WESTBURYES, with the Quit Rents, Heriots, and other Services incident thereto, and the Manor House, with barns, oasthouses, fatting lodges, and all suitable out-buildings, together with 255a. 3r. 20p. of valuable hop, orchard, arable, and wood- land, situated principally in the parish of Wateringbury, in Kent (but a small part in the adjoining parish of Nettlested), about five miles from Maidstone, and within a short distance of the River Medway, affording great facility for transporting the produce to the London markets at a very easy expense. Few properties offer a more desirable opportunity for Investment or a Residence; several parts of the lands command picturesque and extensive views, are surrounded by the domains of Mereworth Castle and the beautiful seats of Lord Barham, Sir William Twysden, Sir John Shaw, Mr. Alderman Lucas, etc, etc., and in one of the most fruitful valleys in Kent. The fruit plantations in Wateringbury are proverbially productive, the hop grounds pre-eminently valuable, the woods some of the best in the county, and the whole land, in short, in the highest degree of cultivation. About 50 acres of the estate are in hand; the remainder is on lease, which will expire at Michaelmas, 1840, at a rent of 550£ per annum. Comprised in this property are the leases of two small parcels of land granted for building, for a term of sixty years from Michaelmas 1806, at little more than a nominal rent. The Manor of Chart and most of the lands were formerly part of the possessions of the Abbey of St. Mary Grace, Tower Hill, of the Cistercian order; and from evidence in the possession of the Proprietor there is little doubt but they are only subject to a modus, in lieu of tithes, of four nobles', or 26s. and 8d., yearly. For further particulars, and to treat for the sale, apply at the Office of Mr. Dudlow, in Town Malling, where a map of the estate may be seen.

At the time of the Tithe commutation survey in 1839, some 7 years after the above notice but a year before the lease expiry at Michaelmas 1840 noted, 147 acres 2 roods and 1 perch of Westbury Manor were owned by William Cook with James Ellis as the tenant and there was 108 acres 1 rood and 17 perches (but not in the tithe survey called Chart Manor) also owned by William Cook but with no tenant. They do not seem to have been exempt from tithes in the tithe commutation survey as claimed.