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Tenderden and the Kent Countryside
Oct. 14th, 2011 02:51 pmThe weather on the whole this week has remained very good , albeit not as warm as it has been, but well above the average.
Wednesday I decided to visit Tenderden, just ten miles south of Ashford, and actually a cinque port. The reason for the town being a cinque port is that it stands on the edge of the Weald, overlooking the valley of the River Rother. The standard cinque ports are close to the coast , but as a limb it has the same status as Faversham.
A Royal Charter of 1155 established the ports to maintain ships ready for the Crown in case of need. The chief obligation laid upon the ports, as a corporate duty, was to provide 57 ships for 15 days service to the king annually, each port fulfilling a proportion of the whole duty. In return the towns received the following privileges:
Exemption from tax and tolls; self-government; permission to levy tolls, punish those who shed blood or flee justice, punish minor offences, detain and execute criminals both inside and outside the port's jurisdiction, and punish breaches of the peace; and possession of lost goods that remain unclaimed after a year, goods thrown overboard, and floating wreckage.
The leeway given to the Cinque Ports, and the turning of a blind eye to misbehaviour, led to smuggling, though of course common everywhere at this time becoming more or less one of the dominant industries.
King Edward I granted the citizens of the Cinque Ports special privileges, including the right to bring goods into the country without paying import duties; in return the Ports would supply him with men and ships in time of war. The associated ports, known as 'limbs', were given the same privileges. The five head ports and two antient towns were entitled to send two Members to Parliament. A Lord Warden Of the Cinque Ports was appointed, and also held the title of Constable Of Dover Castle, and whilst this office exists today, it is now a purely honorary title, with an official residence at Walmer Castle. The town of Hastings was the head port of the Cinque Ports in mediæval times. The towns also had their own system of courts.
Anyway, I purchased a load of books from a Sue Ryder charity shop, had a coffee at Costa, and soaked up the splendour of this ancient town. All paperbacks, including Sebastian Faulks “Birdsong”, Sinclair McKay's “The Secret Life of Bletchley Park” and Sarah Waters “Fingersmith”.
In Ashford I purchased more paperbacks from a YMCA charity shop including Ben Okri's “The Famished Road”(Vintage), and Daniel Defoe's “A Journal Of The Plague Years” (Oxford).
I then went up to Canterbury and popped in a DVD online I sold to a household rather than use the postal system.
I took the Sarah Bakewell book “How To Live, A Life Of Montaigne” to read together with the Very Short Introduction to Marquis De Sade (Oxford).
It turned out to be a very pleasant journey around the bucolic Kent countryside.
Wednesday I decided to visit Tenderden, just ten miles south of Ashford, and actually a cinque port. The reason for the town being a cinque port is that it stands on the edge of the Weald, overlooking the valley of the River Rother. The standard cinque ports are close to the coast , but as a limb it has the same status as Faversham.
A Royal Charter of 1155 established the ports to maintain ships ready for the Crown in case of need. The chief obligation laid upon the ports, as a corporate duty, was to provide 57 ships for 15 days service to the king annually, each port fulfilling a proportion of the whole duty. In return the towns received the following privileges:
Exemption from tax and tolls; self-government; permission to levy tolls, punish those who shed blood or flee justice, punish minor offences, detain and execute criminals both inside and outside the port's jurisdiction, and punish breaches of the peace; and possession of lost goods that remain unclaimed after a year, goods thrown overboard, and floating wreckage.
The leeway given to the Cinque Ports, and the turning of a blind eye to misbehaviour, led to smuggling, though of course common everywhere at this time becoming more or less one of the dominant industries.
King Edward I granted the citizens of the Cinque Ports special privileges, including the right to bring goods into the country without paying import duties; in return the Ports would supply him with men and ships in time of war. The associated ports, known as 'limbs', were given the same privileges. The five head ports and two antient towns were entitled to send two Members to Parliament. A Lord Warden Of the Cinque Ports was appointed, and also held the title of Constable Of Dover Castle, and whilst this office exists today, it is now a purely honorary title, with an official residence at Walmer Castle. The town of Hastings was the head port of the Cinque Ports in mediæval times. The towns also had their own system of courts.
Anyway, I purchased a load of books from a Sue Ryder charity shop, had a coffee at Costa, and soaked up the splendour of this ancient town. All paperbacks, including Sebastian Faulks “Birdsong”, Sinclair McKay's “The Secret Life of Bletchley Park” and Sarah Waters “Fingersmith”.
In Ashford I purchased more paperbacks from a YMCA charity shop including Ben Okri's “The Famished Road”(Vintage), and Daniel Defoe's “A Journal Of The Plague Years” (Oxford).
I then went up to Canterbury and popped in a DVD online I sold to a household rather than use the postal system.
I took the Sarah Bakewell book “How To Live, A Life Of Montaigne” to read together with the Very Short Introduction to Marquis De Sade (Oxford).
It turned out to be a very pleasant journey around the bucolic Kent countryside.
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