Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Fredville Park has wood and parkland of 100 hectares (247 acres), featuring many 'ancient' trees including a Majesty Oak listed in the Guinness Book of records as the largest maiden Oak tree in the United Kingdom. The site also includes a 2 acre 18th century walled garden, although the associated house was demolished in 1945. The walled garden is now used for Pheasant rearing.

The original farmhouse called ‘Fredville’ was enlarged into a comfortable Adam style two storey house in 1750 by the Plumptre family.

Monument Types

• PARK (Post Medieval to Modern - 1750 AD? to 1921 AD?)

Full description

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There is a 2 acre walled garden that could date from the 18th century with 2-3 metre high brick walls, now in an abandoned state and used for pheasant rearing.
There are some attractive thatched ‘Ferme Ornée' style cottages in the remote village of Frogham nearby.
Two areas of very ancient and very massive old trees are of great importance:
1) The oaks near the house. A ring fence instead of a ha-ha, (no landfall) enclosed the 18th century house, and within this, among later laurel scrub and evergreens, can be found several quite unique oaks of great age and size, records of which are known for at least 200 years. Four of these veterans have existed for so long that they have acquired local names:
a) ‘Majesty': It is the largest surviving maiden oak in the UK (even outclassing the Sherwood Forest Major). It is listed in the Guinness Book of Records, and is at least 400-450 years of age. It is huge, spreading, and in reasonable condition, but branches lost in 1930 are accelerating decay on the east side.
b) The other three gnarled, massive trees are ‘Beauty', ‘Staghorn' and ‘Stately'. These are not quite the size of Majesty, but £100 was offered for Stately in 1890. Survey is needed.
2) The Spanish chestnut avenue. This runs south-east across the park well away from the site of the old house, and it must date from the 17th century. It has no focal feature at its south-east end. Some trees have died and others are well past healthy maturity. This is a unique feature.
The October 1987 storm caused considerable damage to the woodland belts and beech woods to the south-east. Holm oaks were also damaged. However the famous and ancient oaks named above are all undamaged. The sweet chestnut avenue is also reasonably intact.
Principal building:
House Created 1750 to 1945
The mansion was developed from a farmhouse in 1750, enlarged in 1880 and demolished in 1945.
The name ‘Fredville' is ancient and its origin is unknown. The present main features are the woodland and parkland, with a number of magnificent, ancient trees, but no mansion or garden to match (the house was demolished in 1945). The estate continues to the high quality landscape in this area of east Kent, which is otherwise rather bleak and intensively farmed. The surrounding area is affected by collieries, and some village housing development.
The original farmhouse called ‘Fredville' was enlarged into a comfortable Adam style two storey house in 1750 by the Plumptre family. In 1880 a massive nursery wing was added to house a Plumptre family of 12 children (This was done by the present owner's great grandfather).
In 1918 the succeeding Plumptre considered reducing the size of the house, but instead, in 1921 built a small, unpretentious house to the north, the mansion being abandoned. There was service occupation between 1939 and 1945. A serious fire that burnt down the best part led to the late J. H. Plumptre's decision to demolish the rest in 1945, only leaving the stable blocks and some outbuildings.


The Kent Garden Trust carried out a historical review of Fredville in 2017. From the report:

"SUMMARY OF HISTORIC INTEREST
Fredville manor existed by 1250. The estate was held by a succession of
families until 1750 when it passed through marriage to the Plumptre family.
The original farmhouse was enlarged first, c 1750, to a two-storey house and
then to a large late Victorian mansion which was abandoned in 1921. A fire
destroyed most of the house during WWII and it was demolished in 1945.
The structure of the landscape, with the pleasure grounds and kitchen garden
close to the new 1750’s Georgian house and the large area of parkland
surrounding it, probably dates from the late C18. The addition of woodland
plantations continued throughout the C19, providing the setting for the
considerable Victorian extensions of the house.

Fredville is renowned for the large number of ancient oaks and sweet chestnuts
in the parkland.

Jane Austen was a frequent visitor to the nearby Goodnestone estate, visiting her
brother Edward. She was well acquainted with the Plumptre family and it seems
likely that she would have visited them at Fredville.

CHRONOLOGY OF THE HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT
The origin of the name “Fredville” is not known for certain. Traditionally it is
believed to be derived from the Old French: freide ville, meaning a cold place,
because of its cold, wet, low position. It could, however, be derived from the Old
English: frith, meaning the outskirts of a wooded area, plus vill, meaning a manor
or settlement, giving “a manor next to the wooded area”.

Fredville House and park was originally part of Essewelle Manor. It is recorded
in Domesday that in the time of Edward the Confessor it was held by a woman,
Molleve, but in 1086 it was held by Ralph de Courbepine from Bishop Odo. De
Courbepine’s holdings passed to the Maminot family and in the late 1100’s to the
Barony de Saye. By 1250 Essewelle had been divided into Esol and Freydevill.
The spelling varied over the centuries: Frydewill (1338), Fredeule (1396),
Fredevyle (1407), Froydevyle (1430), ffredvile (1738).

Hasted lists the families who held Fredville from the Colkins, in the reign of
Edward I, to the Boys, in the reign of Richard III. William Boys’ descendant,
Major Boys, had many of his estates confiscated for being a Royalist, but
Fredville remained in the Boys family until two of his sons sold it to Denzill, Lord
Holles in1673 in order to pay debts. In 1745, Thomas Holles sold it to Margaret,
sister of Sir Brook Bridges, baronet of Goodnestone, which is nearby.
Margaret Bridges married John Plumptre, a wool merchant of Nottinghamshire, in
1750, but they had no children. The estate passed to John Plumptre through the
marriage. Margaret died in 1756 and her husband remarried in 1758 and had a
son. John Plumptre rebuilt the manor as a Georgian house.

Sir Brook Bridges’ daughter, Elizabeth, married the author Jane Austen’s brother,
Edward. Jane Austen’s letters (1796-1814) show that she was a regular visitor to
the Bridges’ estate at Goodnestone and later to Edward’s new home at
Godmersham. She was well acquainted with the Plumptres of nearby Fredville
(Jane Austen letters to her sister Cassandra, September - October 1813 and
March 1814). John Pemberton Plumptre was for a time a suitor of Jane’s niece
Fanny. Jane Austen wrote “Anything is to be preferred or endured rather than
marrying without Affection; and if his deficiencies of Manner &c &c strike you
more than all his good qualities, if you continue to think strongly of them, give him
up at once.” (Jane Austen letter to Fanny November 1814). Fanny rejected John
Pemberton.

In the late 19th century the house was greatly enlarged, its 50 bedrooms
accommodating the family of 11 children and the necessary staff. In 1921 Henry
Western Plumptre built the much smaller “Little Fredville” nearby in the park as
the family home and Fredville mansion was abandoned. It was requisitioned
during WWII and occupied by a Canadian tank regiment. A fire destroyed most
of the house in 1942 and after the war J H Plumptre, son of Henry Western,
decided to demolish the building. Only the clock tower and some converted
outbuildings now stand. The site remains in private ownership.

SITE DESCRIPTION
LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING
Fredville Park lies at the southern edge of the village of Nonington, 3km southeast
of Aylesham, 16 km south-east of Canterbury, 16 km north-west of Dover
and 5 km east of the A2.

The site, as here defined, is an area of 100ha in the parish of Nonington, lying
within the square marked out by Holt Street to the north-west, Mill Lane to the
north-east, Sandwich Lane to the south-east and Nightingale Lane to the southwest.
The site boundary is formed by: to the west, field boundaries dividing the
park fields from a 1ha area of farmland at the western, Holt Street, corner of the
square; to the north-west, south-west, and south-east, by the public roads,
excluding the private residences along these roads; to the north, field boundaries
which separate off a 5ha field at the northern, Easole Street/Nonington tip of the
area; to the north-east by the footpath that forms the continuation of Butchers
Lane; and to the south by the plantation that lies 120m to the north of Frogham
Farm dividing off a 2.25ha field at the southern, Frogham corner of the area. The
boundary is mainly fenced, the fence in stretches being accompanied by
hedging.

The park occupies a shallow valley running north-south through the centre of the
site, with the mansion having been situated on the east-facing slope. The gentle
nature of the topography means that the views are mostly contained within the
site.
ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES
The early C19 Lower Lodge (listed grade II), of painted brick and thatched,
stands on Holt Street, 120m to the south-west of the junction with Vicarage Lane.
From here a public bridleway leads up a gentle gradient, southwards through the
park, taking the line of the former main approach drive, until it reaches a plateau.
550m to the south of the lodge, the track divides with one branch entering the
fenced enclosure of the former house and pleasure grounds. Following the
Victorian extensions to the house, the drive and carriage entrance accessed the
pleasure grounds from the north while the main house entrance remained on the
east (1872 OS).

380m south of the lodge, a scarcely visible path branches off the
bridleway/former drive, leading around the western side of the fenced enclosure,
then through a plantation to join with Nightingale Lane at Longlands. This is not
an historic route and is not shown on C19 or C20 OS maps.

From the mansion site enclosure, the main track continues southwards to meet
with Nightingale Lane at Park Farm, at the north end of the hamlet of Frogham.
The main drive is shown on the tithe map and the OS mapping sequence.
A second path, from Easole Street in Nonington village, enters the site at the
northern tip of the park and leads south for 560m. The route then turns abruptly
westwards such that the path joins with the former drive at the eastern side of the
former house enclosure. This approach is marked on the tithe map where it is
shown as crossing the main drive to enter the pleasure ground enclosure from
the north thus providing access to the ancillary buildings. By the time of the 1872
OS, this track had been moved eastward such that it joined the main drive to the
south-east of the house.

Several other unsurfaced public footpaths provide access across the park.
PRINCIPAL BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES
To west of centre in the park is a circular enclosure of 5ha, surrounded by cast
iron fencing. This is the site of the former mansion house and its surrounding
outbuildings, pleasure grounds and kitchen garden. Access to the enclosure is
by a driveway leading west off the main bridleway.

Soon after his marriage in 1750, John Plumptre enlarged the original farmhouse
into a comfortable Adam style two storey house. His first wife, Margaret Bridges,
died childless in 1756; he remarried in 1758 and had one son. John Plumptre
stayed in the house until his death in 1791. In the latter part of the 19th century
the house was greatly extended. It stood on a levelled platform with the main
façade looking eastwards over a gently sloping lawn, then out across the park.
The carriage entrance was at the north front. The tithe map suggests that prior to
this, the entrance front was on the east façade and that the drive crossed through
the eastern half of the pleasure ground enclosure.

Fredville mansion was abandoned when the Plumptre family moved out but was
used for a time as a girls’ school in the inter-war years. A Canadian tank
regiment was stationed in the mansion during WWII. An accidental fire burnt
down much of the house in 1942 and J H Plumptre, son of Henry Western, took
the decision to demolish the rest in 1945.

Although there are no visible above ground traces of the mansion house, the
clock tower, stable blocks and some outbuildings survive within the fenced
enclosure to the north of the house site. These have been converted into
dwellings. The dwellings are reached from the driveway by passing under an
archway in the northernmost building.

400m to the south of the former mansion, on the north side of Nightingale Lane,
350m north of the hamlet of Frogham, stands ‘Little Fredville’. This single-storey
12-bedroom horseshoe-shaped house was built in 1921 as the family home by
Henry Western Plumptre, who found the Victorian house too big for his needs
(shown on the 1937 OS). Between Little Fredville and the former mansion site
stand Little Fredville cottages. Buildings are marked in this location on the tithe
map, and on the 1872 OS where they accompanied a plant nursery.

The former icehouse is said to be in reasonable repair although it has been filled
in (www.nonington.org.uk). It was mentioned by a local man in 1948 (HER TR 25
SE 153) and was last shown on the 1909 OS on the edge of the pleasure ground
enclosure, to the north-west of the house.

Mrs. Boys Behrens, a descendant of the Boys’ of Fredville, claimed in her book,
Under Thirty-Seven Kings. Legends of Kent & Records of the family of Boys,
(1926) that a secret passage supposedly led from a well in the kitchen to the old
ice-house.

GARDENS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS
Map evidence suggests that the main area of pleasure grounds accompanying
the Victorian house occupied the northern half of the fenced enclosure that
surrounded the mansion. The fenced enclosure retained the same outline as that
which accompanied the earlier Georgian house with the former cherry orchard
(tithe map apportionment) being replaced in the mid C19 by the pleasure
grounds. These appear to have been informally planted and well treed with both
broad leaved and coniferous specimens (1872 OS). This area is now (2017)
covered with laurel scrub and evergreens and young pheasants roam freely.
Within the enclosure immediately to the south-east of the mansion site, stands
“Majesty”, marked on historic maps (OS series) as the “Fredville Oak”. This
pedunculate oak is said to be the largest maiden oak in England.

(www.monumentaltrees.com): the exact age of the tree is not known but it was
thriving in 1554 (Mrs Boys Behrens). Close to “Majesty”, within the grounds, are
two other named notable oaks, “Beauty” and “Stately”. Until recently (c2007)
there was a third such tree, named “Staghorn”. Nearby, also within the pleasure
ground area, stands a c.150 year old Wellingtonia. There was a pump house in
the area, shown on the OS 2nd edition.

PARKLAND
Fredville Park is largely enclosed by perimeter belts with a continuous wooded
planting along the eastern side. These mature wooded belts include Easole
Field Plantation on the north-east perimeter (shown on the tithe map), and
Summerhouse Plantation to the south-east (shown on the tithe map). By the
1870s (OS), Larch Plantation and Serpentine Plantation had been planted to the
south of Summerhouse Plantation.

Along the southern boundary, between Little Fredville and Longlands (the site of
the estate kennels, aviary and nursery; tithe map and C19 OS) lies Nightingale
Wood, a C20 plantation. This would appear to be replanted on the site of the
earlier Denvills Wood (1876 OS, present on the tithe map; renamed Nightingale
Wood by 1898 OS). At the northern end of Nightingale Wood stand Nightingale
Cottages, buildings having been present on this site by 1872 (OS) but not
appearing on the tithe map.

A summerhouse is indicated on the OS maps up until the 1898 OS, but the
feature does not appear on any later maps (nor is it marked on the tithe map). It
stood at the highest point in the park and may have provided views north–
westwards out over the park between Beech Plantation and Great Plantation,
and westwards towards the mansion on the opposite side of the valley. No
visible trace of it remains.

To the south-west of the Lodge at the northern end of the park is the cricket
ground and associated pavilion of Nonington Cricket Club, which has occupied
the site for over 100 years (noningtoncc.co.uk; pavilion present by 1929 OS).
While substantial areas within the park are under the plough, a number of large
plantations survive, along with many parkland trees.

The C19 and C20 sequence of OS maps show the park as well wooded with
many small groups of trees both broadleaved and coniferous, and many
individual parkland specimens. The great storm of October 1987 caused
considerable damage to the woodland belts and beech woods to the south-east
as well as to holm oaks. Most of the parkland trees, however, were spared.
Within the park, surviving plantations include, in the eastern half of the site,
Beech Plantation and Box Wood, the latter formerly known as The Great
Plantation (OS series; both plantations are shown on the tithe map). Most of the
plantations had been planted by 1872 (present on 1st edition OS).

Running south-eastwards across the park, 300m to the north-east of the mansion
site, are the remains of an avenue of Spanish chestnuts. The age of the trees
suggests that this feature may date from the 17th century (Kent County Council
Monument HER records). One of these veteran sweet chestnuts was known as
the “step-tree” as it formerly supported a stepladder arrangement leading up to a
platform in its branches. The tree survives but the ladder has been removed.
Another notable tree was near Shireway Gate which is on the south-eastern edge
of the park, at the road junction at the northern corner of Limekiln plantation:
“there was a famous horn beam, which has a ‘spread’ of over 100 feet; and
perhaps this is the most notable of all. It is possibly 500 years old”
(www.nonington.org.uk Kent Archaeological Society excursion to Nonington in
September, 1936). No further details of this tree were traced during research
carried out for this description.

Two unretouched blades and flakes were found at a mesolithic site in Fredville
park and are now in Canterbury Museum. A mediaeval gully and C13 or C14
potsherds were found in 1971, but their present location is unknown.

KITCHEN GARDEN
Immediately to the south-west of the house site, occupying the south-western
quarter of the fenced enclosure, is the walled kitchen garden, 1ha in extent.
Surrounded by 3.5m high brick walls, the garden is shown on the tithe map and
could be of C18 date. For a time in the early C21 it was used for pheasant
rearing, but it is now grassed (2017).

OTHER LAND
At the southern end of the site, beyond the public road (and outside the site as
here defined), is Limekiln Plantation, also present by the time the tithe map was
drawn. To the south-west of the site are Rueberries Wood and Broomhill
Plantation. " (1)

Kent Gardens Trust, 2017, The Kent Compendium of Historic Parks and Gardens for Dover: Fredville Park (Unpublished document). SKE51727.

Sources and further reading

Related records