West Peckham is a village in the local government district

Non-metropolitan district

Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially shire districts, are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties in a so-called "two-tier" arrangement...

 of Tonbridge and Malling

Tonbridge and Malling

Tonbridge and Malling is a local government district and borough in the English county of Kent.Tonbridge and Malling borough covers an area from the North Downs at Burham and Snodland in the north to the town of Tonbridge in the south...

 in Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The River Bourne flows through the extreme west of the parish, and formerly powered a paper mill (Hamptons mill) and corn mill (Oxenhoath Mill). The Wateringbury Stream

Wateringbury Stream

The Wateringbury stream rises at Swanton, West Peckham parish, flows south east towards Mereworth and then flows in a generally easterly direction to join the River Medway at Wateringbury. It is some four miles long and powered a number of watermills....

 rises in the parish. Oxon Hoath

Oxon Hoath

Oxon Hoath is a Grade II* listed Châteauesque-style former manor house with 73 acres of grounds at West Peckham, Kent. The spellings Oxenhoath, Oxen Hoath and Oxonhoath are common alternatives. The spelling Oxenholt was also used it the past. The manor is a former royal deer park...

 is the former manor house of West Peckham.

History

The Domesday entry for East

East Peckham

East Peckham is a village in Kent, England, made up of nine hamlets and situated about east of Tonbridge on the River Medway. It was the centre for the hop growing industry in Kent and is still home to the Hop Farm which has the world's largest collection of Oast Houses.-History:The Domesday entry...

 and West Peckham reads:-

The Archbishop himself

Lanfranc

Lanfranc was Archbishop of Canterbury, and a Lombard by birth.-Early life:Lanfranc was born in the early years of the 11th century at Pavia, where later tradition held that his father, Hanbald, held a rank broadly equivalent to magistrate...

 holds Pecheham, In the time of King Edward the Confessor

Edward the Confessor

Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....

 it was taxed at six sulungs, and now six sulungs and one yoke. The arable land is ten carucates. In demesne

Demesne

In the feudal system the demesne was all the land, not necessarily all contiguous to the manor house, which was retained by a lord of the manor for his own use and support, under his own management, as distinguished from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants...

 there are two, and sixteen villeins, with fourteen borderers, having four carucates and a half. There is a church, and ten servants, and one mill

Watermill

A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...

, and six acres of meadow. Wood for the pannage

Pannage

Pannage is the practice of turning out domestic pigs in a wood or forest, in order that they may feed on fallen acorns, beechmast, chestnuts or other nuts. Historically, it was a right or privilege granted to local people on common land or in royal forests...

 of six hogs

Domestic pig

The domestic pig is a domesticated animal that traces its ancestry to the wild boar, and is considered a subspecies of the wild boar or a distinct species in its own right. It is likely the wild boar was domesticated as early as 13,000 BC in the Tigris River basin...

.

Of the land of this manor, one of the archbishop's tenants holds half a sulung, and was taxed with these six sulungs in the time of King Edward the Confessor, although it could not belong to the manor, except in the scotting, because it was free land.

Richard de Tonebridge

Tonbridge

Tonbridge is a market town in the English county of Kent, with a population of 30,340 in 2007. It is located on the River Medway, approximately 4 miles north of Tunbridge Wells, 12 miles south west of Maidstone and 29 miles south east of London...

 holds of the same favour two sulungs and one yoke, and has there twenty-seven villeins, having seven carucates, and wood for the pannage of ten hogs. The whole value being four pounds

Pound sterling

The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

. In the time of King Edward the Confessor, the manor was worth twelve pounds, when the Archbishop received it eight pounds, and now what he has is worth eight pounds.

Amenities

Notable attractions include 'The Swan on the Green'; a refurbished gastro-pub listed in the Good Beer Guide

Good Beer Guide

The Good Beer Guide is a book published annually by the Campaign for Real Ale listing what they consider to be the best cask ale outlets in the United Kingdom.-Details:...

, the village hall and 'the green'

Notable people

• John Culpeper
  John Culpeper
  John Culpeper lived from 1366 to 1414. He was styled "Sir John Culpeper of Oxon Hoath, Knight", a knight in the court of King Henry V of England. The family's name is believed to derive from the herb.-External links:*...
  
   (1366-1414) built Oxon Hoath
  Oxon Hoath
  Oxon Hoath is a Grade II* listed Châteauesque-style former manor house with 73 acres of grounds at West Peckham, Kent. The spellings Oxenhoath, Oxen Hoath and Oxonhoath are common alternatives. The spelling Oxenholt was also used it the past. The manor is a former royal deer park...
  
   and established West Peckham Preceptory
  West Peckham Preceptory
  -History:West Peckham Preceptory was founded circa 1408 by Sir John Culpeper of Oxon Hoath, West Peckham. It was held by the Knights Hospitallers, and used by them as an administrative centre. The preceptory remained in the possession of the Knights Hospitallers until it was dissolved by King Henry...
  
   c1408.
• Joyce Culpeper
  Joyce Culpeper
  Jocasta "Joyce" Culpeper, of Oxon Hoath was the mother of Catherine Howard, the fifth wife and Queen Consort to King Henry VIII.-Early life:...
  
   (c1480-1531) was born at Oxon Hoath.

External links