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Monument details
| HER Number: | TR 25 SW 359 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Medieval and Post Medieval park pale, Old Park Farm, Aylesham |
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Summary
An historic boundary featuring a bank and ditch, which exists between Aylesham Road and Ratling Road to the north of Aylesham. Documentary evidence supports the case that this was a park pale for land to the south used by the Archbishops of Canterbury as a deer park between 1425 and 1763, and perhaps before and after.
| Grid Reference: | TR 2350 5297 |
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| Map Sheet: | TR25SW |
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| Parish: | AYLESHAM, DOVER, KENT |
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Monument Types
- PARK PALE (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1425 AD? to 1763 AD?)
| Protected Status: | Selected Heritage Inventory for Natural England: Medieval park pale and cropmark of a Ring ditch, Aylesham |
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Full description
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An historic boundary featuring a bank and ditch, which exists between Aylesham Road and Ratling Road to the north of Aylesham. Documentary evidence supports the case that this was a park pale for land to the south used by the Archabishops of Canterbury as a deer park between 1425 and 1763, and perhaps before and after those dates.
The farmstead recorded as Old Park Farm (MKE86583) in the HER was Curleswood (and has regained that name at the time of the Third Ed OS map) (1). It is recorded at the time of the Nonington and Womenswold Tithe Map as being owned by Sir William Brook Bridges (Bart.) – of Goodnestone. "The name Curlswood, or Curleswood, evolved over the centuries from the Old English ‘Crudes wudu’, meaning Cruds Wood. Crud was the surname of a tenant family who lived there in the 13th century… In the late 19th and early 20th centuries it was generally referred to as Park Farm with the Park suffix as a reminder of its use as a deer, or hunting, park by the Archbishop and other occupiers." (2).
In 2017, archaeologists monitoring the construction of a housing development to the south observed 300-400 year-old oaks growing out of it in places.
<1> Landmark, 1907-1923, Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 map (OS 3rd Edition, 1907-1923) (Map). SKE30966.
<2> Redd Lyon Curios Ltd, 2017, The Old Parish of Nonington: A small place in East Kent history (Website). SKE32476.
Sources and further reading
| Cross-ref.
| Source description | | <1> | Map: Landmark. 1907-1923. Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 map (OS 3rd Edition, 1907-1923). |
| <2> | Website: Redd Lyon Curios Ltd. 2017. The Old Parish of Nonington: A small place in East Kent history. |
