January 2020 Group Meeting Report
Esme was not exaggerating when she described her presentation on The Horrible History of Hextable at our January meeting as “covering pre- 1066 to the present day”. She took us all the way back to the discovery in North Kent of a straight tusked elephant from 400,000 BC, the remains of an early man/woman/pan-sexual person from 250,000 BC and a wealth of findings including stone tools, ingots, urns, coins, bowls and clay pipes from every period onwards – many of which can be viewed at Dartford and Maidstone Museums.
With copious projections of maps, drawings, paintings, photographs of artefacts and documents, Esme also gave an overview of the lives of various peoples throughout the ages that called our area home – their homesteads, festivals, how laws were enforced and land was bought or leased.
During the Anglo Saxon period onwards the area in and around Swanley Village (Swanleye) was inhabited by the families of swineherds who moved their pigs between clearings in woods at Gildenhill and Highlands. In contrast Hextable (spelt in various ways including Hagestapol), was a private estate with just three or four dwellings by 1843, including Hextable House, the estate farmhouse built in 1780 and Sparrow’s Den. Esme gave us the names of the owners of the estate from 1203 onwards, recounting how their fortunes rose and fell, often depending on if they were in favour with the monarch of the time. Nicholas Brembre, a supporter of Richard II and Lord Mayor of London in 1377 and again in 1383 - 1385, was executed for tyrannous conduct in 1389. Adam Bamme died in office of Lord Mayor of London in 1397 and Richard Wittington (known as Dick in pantomimes) completed his term.
The horrible things that Esme mentioned that have happened in Hextable include
No doubt some of our members may know of other horrible happenings in Hextable’s history!
Christina Tyler, Programme Organiser
Esme was not exaggerating when she described her presentation on The Horrible History of Hextable at our January meeting as “covering pre- 1066 to the present day”. She took us all the way back to the discovery in North Kent of a straight tusked elephant from 400,000 BC, the remains of an early man/woman/pan-sexual person from 250,000 BC and a wealth of findings including stone tools, ingots, urns, coins, bowls and clay pipes from every period onwards – many of which can be viewed at Dartford and Maidstone Museums.
With copious projections of maps, drawings, paintings, photographs of artefacts and documents, Esme also gave an overview of the lives of various peoples throughout the ages that called our area home – their homesteads, festivals, how laws were enforced and land was bought or leased.
During the Anglo Saxon period onwards the area in and around Swanley Village (Swanleye) was inhabited by the families of swineherds who moved their pigs between clearings in woods at Gildenhill and Highlands. In contrast Hextable (spelt in various ways including Hagestapol), was a private estate with just three or four dwellings by 1843, including Hextable House, the estate farmhouse built in 1780 and Sparrow’s Den. Esme gave us the names of the owners of the estate from 1203 onwards, recounting how their fortunes rose and fell, often depending on if they were in favour with the monarch of the time. Nicholas Brembre, a supporter of Richard II and Lord Mayor of London in 1377 and again in 1383 - 1385, was executed for tyrannous conduct in 1389. Adam Bamme died in office of Lord Mayor of London in 1397 and Richard Wittington (known as Dick in pantomimes) completed his term.
The horrible things that Esme mentioned that have happened in Hextable include
- An incriminating letter written to the extremely fecund Bridget, daughter of Sir John Wiltshire (an owner of Hextable estate) and wife of Sir Richard Wingfield. Bridget was Lady of The Bedchamber to Anne Boleyn. This letter from Anne was used as evidence of her adultery, leading to her execution at The Tower of London.
- During the 1700’s and 1800’s smugglers used the heavily wooded surroundings of Hextable and Swanley to escape capture. A favoured route went up Calfstock Lane, through Swanley Village then Birchwood and on to Woolwich, stopping for refreshments at The Seven Stars, Footscray. There is a report of a charcoal burner at Stanhill with more money than he could ever earn from his profession.
- The bombings of several properties during World War II
- The flooding of homes in Laura Drive and Lower Road on several occasions
No doubt some of our members may know of other horrible happenings in Hextable’s history!
Christina Tyler, Programme Organiser