Broxham Manor: Broccesham.

• Four Elms, Kent.
• OSGB – TQ 45654 48357.
• Grade II Listed Building.

Medieval moated manor house with chapel. Moat measuring 82.3m by 70m and 15.2 meters wide.

862                   Land belonged to the Saxon, Drythwald.

966                   King Edgar granted the manor to Ǽlfstone, Bishop of Rochester.

987                   Ǽthelred took the site from Ǽlfstone, Bishop of Rochester and granted it to Ǽthelsige.

999                   Ǽthelred gave it to Bishop Godwin II.

1270                 Licence granted for a chapel at the manor granted to Henry de Appuldrefeld, Lord of the Manor. It was Confirmed by the Rector of Westerham and Edenbridge.

1305                 Henry de Appuldrefeld, Lord of the Manor, recovered damages from Reginald de Cobham, for taking deer from his park.

1315                 Held by John de Insula (Ifelde).

c.1318               John de Insula, Lord of the Manor, obtained a Charter of Free Warren.

*                      Passed to the Ashway Family.

1338                 Held by Stephen de Ashway.

1368                 A Licence granted to enclose the park was granted to Stephen de Ashway.

1377                 Possibly held by John Brocas.

*                      Passed from John Brocas to his uncle Bernard Brocas.

1391                 Bernard Brocas had given the manor to six citizens of London. They kept it until Richard II declared that John de Clinton was Lord of the Manor.

1391                 Held by Sir John de Clinton.

1397                 Sir John de Clinton died leaving two daughters. Elizabeth, one of the daughters, married William de Say.

*                      William de Say became heir and took the title Lord Clinton de Say.

1397                 William, Lord Clinton de Say, was summoned to Parliament by Richard II.

1432                 William, Lord Clinton and Say died, leaving a son, John, and his wife, Anne, who was the daughter of Lord Botreaux.

1432                 John gave the manor to Thomas Squeries.

1439                 Thomas Squeries died, and it passed to his daughter Margaret, who had married Sir William Crowmer.

c.1582               Held by Michael Beresford (1).

*                      Michael Beresford (2), grandson of the former Michael Beresford, gave the manor to Mr. Thomas Petley.

1599                 Until: held by the Crowmer Family, Michael Beresford (2), grandson of the former Michael Beresford, gave the manor to Mr. Thomas Petley, of Westerham, for £1,500.

1703                 Mr. Thomas Petley leased the manor to William and George Holmden, Yeomen of Etonbridge. They were granted permission to pull down the gatehouse and the old hall. They turned the old parlour into a granary and then converted the old buttery and passage into a new parlour measuring 5.4 m square. The Courts Baron may have been held here.

1703                 The old hall was demolished.

1704                 Thomas Holmden was born at the Manor.

*                      Thomas Holmden married Mary Humphrey, who was born at Hever Castle.

1771                 The remainder of the old buildings on the site were demolished. The lease of Thomas Holmden mentions a newly built house constructed of the remains of the old one.

1808                 Thomas Holmden died.

1818                 Site for sale.

1906                 Charles Ralph Petley, Lord of the Manor, sold it to Herbert Whitmore.

1962                 Field Investigation.

References & Bibliography.

Brady. K., & Biddulph. E. 2007. Feeding the Moat: Excavations Near the Site of Edenbridge Manor House. Kent Archaeological Society. Available at https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/sites/default/files/archcant/2007%20127%20Feeding%20the%20Moat%20Excavations%20Near%20the%20Site%20of%20Edenbridge%20Manor%20House%20Brady.pdf.

Hastead. E. 1797. The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent, Volume 3. W. Bristow.

Historic England. Broxham Manor. Available at https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1253990.

Howell. G. O. 1894. The Kentish Note Book: A Half-yearly Magazine of Notes, Queries, and Replies on Subjects Connected with the County of Kent, Volume 2. Smither.

Howard. J. J. (ed). 1884. Miscellanea Genealogica Et Heraldica, Volume 4. Hamilton, Adams, and Company.

Howard. J. J. 1887. Some Pedigrees from the Visitation of Kent, 1663-68. Mitchell and Hughes.

Ireland. W. H. 1830. England’s Topographer: Or A New and Complete History of the County of Kent; from the Earliest Records to the Present Time, Including Every Modern Improvement. Embellished with a Series of Views from Original Drawings by Geo. Shepherd, H. Gastineau, &c. with Historical, Topographical, Critical, & Biographical Delineations, Volume 4. G. Virtue.

My Heritage. 2021. Thomas Holmden. Available at https://www.myheritage.com/names/thomas_holmden.

Nichols. J. G. 1858. The Topographer and Genealogist, Volume 3. J. B. Nichols.

Richards. V., Richards. R. & Norton. G. S. 1845. The Law Review, and Quarterly Journal of British and Foreign Jurisprudence, Volume 2. Owen Richards.