Lathe of St. Augustine

Last updated

St Augustine
Former subdivision of England
History
  OriginMerger of Borough Lathe
and Eastry Lathe
  Created13th century
  Abolished1894 (obsolescent)
  Succeeded bydiverse authorities
Statusobsolete
GovernmentLathe
Subdivisions
  TypeHundreds

The Lathe of St Augustine is an historic division of the county of Kent, England, encompassing the present-day Districts of Canterbury, Dover and Thanet. [1] The Lathes of Kent were ancient administration divisions originating, probably, in the 6th century, during the Jutish colonisation of the county. [2]

Named for Saint Augustine of Canterbury, St Augustine was not one of the original lathes and did not exist at the time of the Domesday Book. The lathe of St Augustine was in existence by 1295, however, having been formed by the merger of the lathes of Borough and Eastry. [3] These lathes were spelled Borowart and Estrei in the Domesday Book. [4]

The lathe was bordered on the west by the Lathe of Scray and on the south by the Lathe of Shepway. The lathe of St Augustine consisted of the following Hundreds: [5]

Within the bounds of the lathe were included the Corporations of Deal, Sandwich, Dover, and Fordwich. It had formerly within its bounds the city of Canterbury, which has been separated from it and made a county of itself in 1461, by the name of the County of the City of Canterbury. [5]

The Lathe was an important administrative, judicial and taxation unit for 600 years after the Domesday Book. The functions of Lathe and hundreds were somewhat similar, with a Lathe covering a much wider area. Although not abolished, it has no administrative functions today. [7] The Sheriff toured the county twice yearly attending on the lathes. The lathe was responsible for raising of aids and subsidies for the Militia. However the Lathe court became anomalous as it fell between the hundredal courts below and the Justices of the county (in petty and quarter sessions) above [8]

The Lathe of St Augustine had an area of 166,760 acres (260 sq. miles). [9]

Notes

  1. See list of parishes by lathe and hundred in the census tables in the Victoria County History, Kent, Volume 3 (publ. 1932, ed William Page, ISBN   9780712906081), along with the list of parishes on the website of Kent County Council (www.kent.gov.uk)
  2. Dartford Country: The Storyof the Hundred of Axstane by Geoff Porteus, 1985, ISBN   9780860232032 (page 13)
  3. Jolliffe, J. E. A. (1929). "The Hidation of Kent". The English Historical Review . Oxford University Press. 44 (176): 612–18. doi:10.1093/ehr/xliv.clxxvi.612. ISSN   1477-4534. JSTOR   552921 via JSTOR.
  4. The Domesday Book: Kent (Publisher: Phillimore & Co., 1983)The original text and translation
  5. 1 2 The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 8, author:Edward Hasted, publ. 1797
  6. http://opendomesday.org/hundred/bewsbury/ Open Domesday Map: Bewsbury Hundred
  7. History of Kent, by Frank Jessup, 1958
  8. Dartford Country - The Story Of The Hundred Of Axstane by G. Porteus(page 32)
  9. The Hidation of Kent by J.E.A. Jolliffe and Census 1832

Related Research Articles

A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Southern Schleswig, Sweden, Finland, Norway, the Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek, Curonia, the Ukrainian state of the Cossack Hetmanate and in Cumberland County in the British Colony of New South Wales. It is still used in other places, including in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Folkestone and Hythe District</span> Non-metropolitan district in England

Folkestone and Hythe is a local government district in Kent, England, in the south-east of the county. Its council is based in the town of Folkestone. The authority was renamed from Shepway in April 2018, and therefore has the same name as the Folkestone and Hythe parliamentary constituency, although a somewhat narrower area is covered by the district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lathe (county subdivision)</span> Division of Kent, England

A lathe formed an administrative country subdivision of the county of Kent, England, from the Anglo-Saxon period, until it fell out of general practical use in the early twentieth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sturry</span> Human settlement in England

Sturry is a village on the Great Stour river situated 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) northeast of Canterbury in Kent. Its large civil parish incorporates several hamlets and, until April 2019, the former mining village of Hersden.

Southfleet is a small village and civil parish in the borough of Dartford in Kent, England. The village is located three miles southwest of Gravesend, while the parish includes within its boundaries the hamlets of Betsham and Westwood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Kent</span> English county history

Kent is a traditional county in South East England with long-established human occupation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hartley, Sevenoaks</span> Human settlement in England

Hartley is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. It is located 7 miles (11 km) south west of Gravesend and the same distance south east of Dartford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hundred of Ruxley</span> Land division in Kent, England

Ruxley was an ancient hundred, a land division in the north west of the county of Kent, England. Its area has been mostly absorbed by the growth of London; with its name currently referring to the Ruxley district. Its former area now corresponds to a majority of the London Borough of Bromley, a large part of the London Borough of Bexley and a small part of the Kent District of Sevenoaks. The hundred was within the Lathe of Sutton-at-Hone, in the west division of Kent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sutton-at-Hone</span> Human settlement in England

Sutton-at-Hone is a village in the civil parish of Sutton-at-Hone and Hawley in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England. It is located 3.5 miles south of Dartford & 3.6 miles north east of Swanley.

Ash is a small village and former civil parish located in the Sevenoaks district in Kent. It shares the parish of Ash-cum-Ridley with the nearby village of Ridley. The London Golf Club is located in the village, which hosted the European Open on the PGA European Tour in 2008 and 2009. In 1951 the parish had a population of 1017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waldershare</span> Human settlement in England

Waldershare is a village near Dover in Kent, England. In 1086, the village was in the hundred of Eastry in the ancient Lathe of Eastry. By 1295 the ancient lathe had been merged into the Lathe of St. Augustine. In the 18th century, the noble family of Waldershare were lords of a manor in the parish of Shebbertswell. The population of the village is included in the civil parish of Shepherdswell with Coldred.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ridley, Kent</span> Human settlement in England

Ridley is a place and former civil parish, now in the parish of Ash-cum-Ridley, in the Sevenoaks district, in the county of Kent, England. It lies between Sevenoaks and Chatham..

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Axstane Hundred</span>

Axstane was a hundred in the county of Kent, England. The Hundred of Axstane lay south-east of Dartford and Wilmington Hundred. It is called Achestan in Domesday Book, but by the reign of Edward I it was called Axstane.

Toltingtrough was a hundred in the Lathe of Aylesford in the county of Kent, England. This hundred is called, in some ancient writings, Toltetern and Tollentr, and in Domesday, Tollentru. In the return made of the several knights fees throughout England, by inquisition into the exchequer, in the 7th year of king Edward I, the archbishop of Canterbury appears to have been then lord of this Hundred.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lathe of Sutton at Hone</span>

The Latheof Sutton-at-Hone historically included a large part of Kent: the present-day boroughs of Dartford, Bexley, Greenwich, Bromley, Lewisham, Sevenoaks District and small parts of the Borough of Tonbridge and Malling and Borough of Tunbridge Wells.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lathe of Scray</span> Division of Kent, England

The Lathe of Scray is an historic division of the county of Kent, England, encompassing the present-day Districts of Swale, Ashford, and the eastern part of Tunbridge Wells The Lathes of Kent were ancient administration divisions originating, probably, in the 6th century, during the Jutish colonisation of the county.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Codsheath Hundred</span>

Codsheath was a hundred, a historical land division, in the county of Kent, England. It occupied the eastern part of the Lathe of Sutton-at-Hone, within in the west division of Kent. Codsheath was also recorded as "Codsede" in ancient records. Today the area that was the Codsheath Hundred is part of the Sevenoaks District of Kent that includes the town of Sevenoaks and surrounding area. The Hundred of Codsheath was included in the Domesday Book of 1086, that records it as having 203 houses, 44 in Sundridge and 159 in Otford. The River Darent flowed through the Codsheath Hundred, generally in a northeast direction. Several watermills were constructed on the river within the hundred, in the villages of Sundridge, Otford, Shoreham and Chevening.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little and Lesnes Hundred</span>

Little and Lesnes was a hundred, a historical land division, in the county of Kent, England. It occupied the northern part of the Lathe of Sutton-at-Hone, within in the west division of Kent. Little and Lesnes was the northernmost hundred in the whole county of Kent. The hundred existed since ancient times, before the Domesday Book of 1086, until it was made obsolete with the creation of new districts at the end of the nineteenth century.

The Kent Trained Bands were a part-time militia recruited from Kent in South East England, first organised in 1558. They were periodically embodied for home defence and internal security, including the Spanish Armada campaign in 1588, and saw active service during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. They fell into abeyance in the early 18th century.