John Darell, Esq. who was several times Sheriff of Kent. Phillip Darell, Esq. the late possessor, built a new house on a commanding eminence, at a short distance from the ancient mansion, which had been erected by his ancestor, the purchaser of this estate. Of this family was the Rev. WILLIAM DARELL, Chaplain to Queen Elizabeth, who wrote the 'History of Dover Castle,' in Latin, which was published in 1786, with a translation by Mr. Alexander Campbell, and several views by the late Francis Grose, Esq. In the Church of LITTLE CHART, in which Parish Cale Hill is situated, are various monuments of the Darells, and among them of Sir JOHN DARELL, Knt." Squyere of the Body to King Henry the 7th," who died in September 1509. The deceased is represented by a full length effigies, in armour, much mutilated.

SURRENDEN, in Pluckley Parish, has for nearly three centuries been the seat of the very ancient family of Dering, one of whom is mentioned in the Textus Roffensis, and in the Domesday Book, as holding lands at Farningham, in this County, in the Saxon times. Norman Fitz Dering, who married Matilda, sister and heiress of William de Ipres, Earl of Kent, was Sheriff of this County in the reign of King Stephen, in whose cause, and near whose person, he was slain at the battle of Lincoln; and, in commemoration of his bravery, his posterity were allowed to add 'three torteaux in chief' to their paternal arms. John Dering, Esq. of Westbrooke, in Lydd Parish, son of Sir Richard Dering, Knt. of Hayton, who was Lieutenant of Dover Castle in the reign of Richard the Second, married Christian, daughter and co-heiress of John Haut, and by his marriage with her became entitled to the entire Manor of Surrenden, which had anciently been called PLUCKLEY, and by that name (Pluckelei) is noticed in the Domesday Book, from which record it appears to have been held by the Archbishops of Canterbury. Archbishop Lanfranc granted it to William, brother of John de Cobham,* whose descendants, surnamed De Pluckley, "did flourish here by the space of two hundred years,"† when, on the death of Sir William

Philipott's Vill. Cant. p. 295.

† Weever, p. 291.

William Pluckley, Knt. it became the property of John de Surrenden, in right of his wife Agnes, a daughter and co-heiress of Sir William. His son, of the same name, who was resident here in the forty-fourth of Edward the Third, rebuilt the ancient ManorHouse," which stands," says Weever, "upon the very forehead of that hill, which from this place doth reach westward into Surrey; a situation so elegant, that it compares with most that are, in rich pastures, healthfull aire; and plenty both of fewell and timber; but, above all, in a very delicate and various prospect." Joan, daughter and heiress of this last John de Surrenden, married John Haut, Esq. in the twentieth of Richard the Second; and their eldest daughter, Christian, carried this estate in marriage to the Derings, as above stated.

Sir Edward Dering, who was created a Baronet in the second of Charles the First, was the founder of the magnificent Manuscript Library at Surrenden, "for which he collected a great number of books, charters, and curious writings, and caused others to be transcribed with great labour and expense: among them were the registers, and chartularies, of several of the dissolved Monasteries in this County, and a series of deeds and muniments relating not only to the family of Dering, but to others connected with it in different ages: most of these valuable manuscripts have been un warily, not many years since, dispersed into other hands."+ At the commencement of the dissentions between Charles and his Parliament, which led to the Civil Wars, this Sir Edward sided with the popular party; but he afterwards supported the King, and was, in consequence, declared a delinquent, and had his estates sequestered. During his disgrace, his "newly furnished house was four times plundered by the Parliament's soldiers; his goods and stock were all taken away; his farm-houses ruined and destroyed; his woods and timbers felled, and all his rents abated.” He was at length reduced to such poverty, that he retired with his wife and family to one of his own farm-houses, where he died VOL. VII. SEP. 1807. Gggg iu

Weever, p. 291.

Hasted's Kent, Vol. VII.

p.

468.

‡ Ibid.

in 1644. In his descendants, Baronets, (who frequently represented this County in Parliament,) this estate continued vested down to the late Sir Edward Dering, who greatly altered the family mansion, and inclosed the Park with a brick wall. His son, of the same name, is now owner of this Manor, as well as of the subordinate ones of Malmains, Shurland, Evering-acre, West Kingsnoth, Ousden, Roting, and Pevington, which constitute the remaining parts of Pluckley Parish. The situation of the house is very fine, and the building itself is not unhandsome: the grounds contain some fine timber.

PLUCKLEY Church, which is dedicated to St. Nicholas, was, according to Harris, built by Sir Richard de Pluckley, who "flourished here in the reigns of King Stephen, and Henry the Second."+ Adjoining to the chancel, on the south, is the burial chapel of the Derings, founded, says Weever, " by Richard Dering, Esq. in the reign of Henry the Sixth." It contains various sepulchral memorials of his family, as does also the south aisle: among them is a Brass of a knight in complete armour, for JOHN Dering, Esq. the same who obtained Surrenden in marriage: he died in 1425. Another Brass, depicted, as well as the former, in Weever, represented his son, RICHARD DERING, Esq. who died in 1481, standing between his two wives. Some other curious brasses, both for the Derings and the Malmayns, are also contained in this structure. This Parish constitutes part of the northern boundary of the Weald of Kent.

HOTHFIELD is the hereditary seat of the Tuftons, Earls of Thanet, to whose ancestor, John Tufton, Esq. of Northiam, in Sussex, this Manor was granted by Henry the Eighth, towards

the

*PEVINGTON was anciently a distinct Parish; but the Church (which is mentioned in the Domesday Survey) having become ruinous, it was united to Pluckley by Archbishop Whitgift, in the year 1583. In the time of Henry the Third, it was held by a knightly family, who assumed the name De Pevington, and expired in an heir female about the beginning of the reign of Henry the Fourth.

+ Hist. of Kent, p. 240.

Fun. Mon. p. 292. Edit. 1631.