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| Beating the Bounds of Cuxton Parish: refreshments at Warren House, 2000... |
"When men first settled at this spot we call Cuxton, the area was...almost certainly densely wooded. The first settlers were hunters who lived off the land, but in time a more settled community was established and they began to plant crops. At first, they simply cleared an area, usually by burning all the vegetation, and then planted their seeds. The idea of rotating crops was unknown to them and as the fertility of the ground dropped, so they made further clearings in the forest. To provide an adequate field area, villages were spaced just over a mile apart. Of course other factors, like unusable ground, high land and areas of woodland, often affected this figure.
As the population of Cuxton grew so the number of fields increased and eventually the need arose to establish the boundaries between Cuxton and the adjoining villages. From Saxon times the men of Cuxton fixed the village boundaries by perambulation, describing their journey from one landmark to another and handing the information down from generation to generation.
The surveyor perambulated the boundary with older men of the parish and carefully noted upon his maps the boundary markers and the names of various features. The original boundaries used well-defined features such as old roads, streams, pits and hill-tops and with the introduction of map-making these have been recorded and preserved to this day.
The ancient tradition of beating-the-bounds still lives on in Cuxton, however, and from time to time a party follows the course of the ancient marks..."
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| Beating the Bounds, 1948.... |
“Rogation” is an ancient church festival, which asks for God’s blessing upon agriculture and industry. The sixth Sunday of Easter (the fifth Sunday after Easter Sunday) is the day traditionally known as Rogation Sunday, with the following Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of the following week known as rogation days, days of fasting and prayer.
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| Beating the Bounds, Whornes Place, 1957: The Rector of Cuxton, the Rev. Charles Rae OBE, is at the far left... |
Cuxton’s clergy were keenly involved in the beating of the Cuxton bounds right up until the 1960’s, (as were the local Boy Scouts) though the historical links with the church, the scouts and agriculture have since fallen away.
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| 1957: Mr. Ablett checks the map at Brickfields Farm. Scout leader Derek Church looks over his shoulder... |
The beating of the bounds was not a religious ceremony, however. It was a far more practical exercise and came to be heavily linked to the mediaeval practice of church “tithes”. Tithes were payments that entitled the church to a tenth of people’s annual income and were usually made “in kind”, in the form of crops, wool, milk and other produce. (Although these payments in kind were ended by the Tithe Commutation Act of 1836, tithes themselves were not completely abolished in the U.K. until the Finance Act of 1977 and were still a source of contention right up until then).
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| Refreshments at Warren House, 1957... |
Parish boundaries were shaped by natural land features, ancient paths and agricultural field boundaries and came to be carefully mapped and jealously policed by local clergy, as the resultant tithes were an important source of income for the church. In order to impress the importance of the parish boundaries upon the younger members of the parish, selected children were supposedly bumped on boundary markers or beaten – a practice that is undertaken gently and thankfully only in fun these days…
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| A victim being "bumped" against the marker on Whorne's Place wall, 1957... |
Of Cuxton’s Rectors, none was more zealous in the definition of the parish boundaries (and the enforcing of tithes therein) than the Reverend Caleb Parfect, Rector of Cuxton from 1719 to 1770. Although the Rev. Parfect lived in Shorne (or during the winter months, in Rochester: although he was buried in Cuxton church – his tomb can be found in the southern graveyard not far from the church door) he was ever keen to argue his corner if he thought he was being cheated of tithe payments from his Cuxton parish.
He was a fierce, fearless (and usually successful) litigant in pursuit of tithe dues, with records showing that he had no qualms in challenging powerful local lords (such as Lord Darnley in 1743) when he felt that Cuxton’s boundaries were being encroached upon.
Parfect took great pains to determine and assert the proper boundaries of the parish in every direction and the modern parish boundaries still closely reflect his efforts. Records show that he participated in “perambulations” of the boundaries in 1753, 1758 and 1770.
He carefully identified boundary markers and was keen to ensure that they were maintained. He once took issue with his opposite number in Halling over the position of a boundary marker in Halling near Whorne’s Place, complaining that a local resident had cut down a boundary marker tree and not replaced the marker: “the common practice of cutting down bound trees especially without any seeming occasion is very strange”, noted Parfect. “I must inform you that Boor (a resident after whom Boor’s Hole is named) of Halling cut one down. A stone marked with ‘X’ now stands in the very hole”, he wrote.
Parfect’s successor, Charles Moore, kept up the tradition. In 1796, the bounds were perambulated and an account was taken of no less than 55 markers, which were carefully recorded as follows:
1. Post In Marsh
2. Maple Road
3. Oak Merrolds Wood
4. Holly Merrolds Wood
5. Oak Magpie Shaw
6. Oak Magpie Shaw
7. Ash Magpie Shaw
8. Oak Panfield
9. Oak Panfield
10. Oak Stockers and Drapers
11. Oak Stockers and Drapers
12. Oak Birch Wood
13. Chestnut Birch Wood
14. Stone in Park
15. Post in Park
16. Beech in Warren
17. Birch in Warren
18. Ash in Warren
19. Stone in Warren
20. Oak in Warren
21. Oak in Warren
22. Oak in Warren
23. White Thorn in Warren
24. Maple Cobham Road
25. Beech Willow Shaw
26. Beech Hook Wood
27. Beech Hook Wood
28. Beech Hook Wood
29. Oak Bracketts
30. Beech Bracketts
31. Beech Rade Wood
32. Oak Rade Wood
33. Beech Rade Wood
34. Beech Crook Horn Wood
35. Oak Bushey Wood
36. Oak Bushey Wood
37. Beech Bushey Wood
38. Oak Bushey Wood
39. Crabb South Dean
40. Oak Bushey Wood
41. Beech South Dean
42. Beech Sixteen Acres
43. Yew Norwood Pond
44. Oak Norwood Pond
45. Norwood Pond
46. Stone Squires
47. Maple Middle Field
48. Buckthorn Logwood
49. Maple Logwood
50. Yew Warren Scrubs
51. Oak Fourteen Acre Warren
52. Fourteen Acre Warren
53. Stone Monk’s Dale
54. Elm Whorne’s Place
55. Post.
Of course, very few of these markers exist today, nearly 230 years later. Trees in particular do not make for enduring markers, although I believe that two (13 and 50) appear to have defied the passage of time.
I have spent some time walking the modern parish boundary and have come up with my own list of markers that reflect the state of things in 2022. A map of these is shown below. The locations of the markers I found were determined using a hand-held sat-nav device (which seems to be accurate to around +/-10 meters) and then plotted onto an on-line map...
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| Cuxton Parish Boundary and markers, 2022: if on a PC, right click on the map, then open link in new tab to magnify... |
Note that these markers are not "official" in any way: the list is of my own invention, although it obviously mostly compromises of historical reference points such as inscribed trees and stones.
Although I am not a fan of the idea of mutilating trees, some were traditionally inscribed with the date of a given perambulation, a practice that still goes on today. The earliest examples of marked trees that I have found go back to the perambulation of 1930, although it seems that some of these marker trees were lost in the Great Storm in 1987.
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| Colin Cogger inscribes the Beech in Clarke's Wood, 2000... |
Below are some notes on each of the existing 2022 parish boundary markers. I have also drawn heavily on the notes of the boundary tour undertaken by Derek Church in 1971, which he recounts in his 1976 book, "Cuxton- a Kentish Village":
1. Whornes Place.
Scratched into the brickwork of the wall to the right of the main building is an arrow, possibly intended to indicate the way to where the parish boundary meets the River Medway. There also used to be a date “1895” and the initials “AP”. The date and initials have now eroded away but can be seen on the photo above, taken in 1960. There was a perambulation in 1895 but I do not know for certain who “AP” may have been.
A marker post, located behind Whorne's Place over the railway bridge just to its left, was indicated on the 1895 OS Map and was probably the one noted on the Rev. Moore’s list as “No. 55 Post”. Its position is marked on the above map as “a”. Derek Church could not find it in 1971. It is worth noting that the overhead power lines crossing the river behind Whorne's Place run directly over the place where the parish boundary returns to land from its track down from the M2 bridge and along the middle of the River Medway. The pylon by the path behind the railway is on the parish boundary. The area is now no longer accessible as there is a gate across the railway bridge which is kept locked.
The parish boundary crosses the road and runs up besides Bores Hole. There used to be a row of cottages there (the original Woodway Cottages) and the boundary ran through the middle of the row before heading west across the quarry.
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| OS map, 1938 revision, showing the parish boundary passing through the original row of Woodway Cottages... |
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| The 1930 team at the old row of original Woodway Cottages... |
In the photo from 1930 above, the team can be seen bumping a volunteer against a cottage wall, suggesting that it was once used as a marker point. The cottages were demolished in the early sixties.
2. Beech above Bores Hole.
Some of the parish boundary in this area was lost to the excavation of Bore's Hole quarry in the late 19th century by the Trechmann and Weekes cement works behind Whorne's Place. This tree is inscribed with dates back to 1990 and is as close to the parish boundary as it is safe to get to in this area. Derek Church refers to a “huge beech tree” which was there in 1971 and was marked with the date “1966”. It seems that tree was a victim of the Great Storm of 1987. Nearby is a concrete Trechmann and Weekes land marker stone (marked TW 1900) somewhat buried in the undergrowth (see below).
3. Yew, Mays Wood (“Warren Scrubs”).
Derek Church refers to a large yew tree in this area and suggests that it is No. 50 on the Rev. Charles Moore’s list of 1796. There are several venerable yews in this area but the photo shows the most striking of them, which could well be the tree Mr. Church referred to as it sits exactly on the boundary line by my measurements.
4. Beech, above Dean Farm Valley
This fine young tree has not been marked but sits on the boundary where it dips down to cross Dean Farm valley, clipping the northern edge of the pond in the valley before climbing up into North Wood. Its twin lies a bit nearer the main path and between them they indicate the route the boundary takes from the path towards Dean valley. Some old Ordnance Survey maps show a boundary stone (marked “b” on the above map) just by the main path in this area, but I cannot find it.
5. Gate, North Downs Way above Dean Farm valley.
This gate lies about 20m west of the actual boundary but is nevertheless a good marker.
(c) Derek Church refers to a yew tree on the southern edge of North Wood, inscribed “C 1957, 1966”. In 1971, it seems that the valley was not fenced off as it is now. I have tried to access this location from the North Wood path, but it is heavily overgrown and I cannot find this tree.
6. Burnt Hornbeam, North Wood.
The blackened remains of this tree sit exactly on the parish boundary, just off the main path through North Wood about 200m or so to the west of the overhead cables. Derek Church referred to a “large Hornbeam” in 1971, inscribed “C 1948, 1966” and in the absence of any other candidates in the immediate area, I think this might be the tree Mr. Church described. Close by there is a younger Hornbeam, perhaps a scion of the original tree. Older OS maps also show a boundary stone (d) in this area by the main North Wood path, but I cannot find it.
7. HA boundary stones, southern end of Bush Valley.
OS Maps from 1910 onwards show a string of concrete boundary markers along the southern edge of Bush Valley, just inside the fence line. I have not given them separate numbers on the map as they all look pretty similar. They are short concrete posts, about 8 inches per side in square section, and marked with the initials “HA”. Derek Church was of the persuasion that this merely stood for HAlling, but on balance I now think it is more likely that these concrete posts were put there by the Halling Manor (Hilton and Anderson, hence the HA...) cement company, who owned the land from Pilgrims Road in Halling down to Bush Valley and were actively working White Pit to the south of this area at the end of the nineteenth century.
So far, I have found 10 out of the 14 posts indicated on older OS maps, but the area has a heavy covering of brambles in some places and it is possible that some stones remain hidden, from my view at least. I think the stone by the gate at the bottom of Bush Valley (f) has been grubbed up, however. OS maps also indicate a stone where the public footpath NS214 meets the parish boundary (h), but I cannot find it.
8. Hornbeam, Bushy Wood.
Derek Church referred to this tree in 1971. It bears marks back to 1966 and has since been regularly inscribed with the dates of subsequent perambulations.
9. Row of yews, Bushy Wood.
Derek Church referred to this striking row of venerable yew trees in 1971. They are not marked, but sit exactly on the parish boundary and serve as good markers.
10. Pylon, Bushy Wood gap.
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| Looking west toward the pylon... |
The western-most pylon of the pair of towers that support the overhead high-voltage grid cables running above the Bushy Wood area lies very close to the parish boundary and it makes sense to adopt it as a boundary marker.
11. Beech, Clarkes Wood.
This splendid old tree lies about 60m to the west of the parish boundary and is inscribed with dates running back to 1930. Derek Church admits to having missed this tree in his 1971 account, referring instead to a tree in the area inscribed with the “1966” date (which the tree pictured above does not have). The picture below shows Colin Cogger making the 1966 inscription on a beech tree (which is also marked “1957”) somewhere in the Bushy Wood/Clarkes Wood area, but to date I have failed to find it.
12. Hornbeam, Little Red Wood.
This striking tree is not marked but lies close to the parish boundary.
13. Row of Yews, Red Wood.
These trees are not marked but are quite distinctive and lie close to the parish boundary.
14. Beech, Red Wood.
This large and splendid tree lies close to the eastern edge of Red Wood and is very close to the parish boundary. It is not marked.
15. Gate, Warren House.
The gate to the west of Warren House leading onto the public footpath from Warren Road lies on the parish boundary and it seems obvious to adopt it as a marker.
16. Railway underpass, Warren Hill.
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| View through the tunnel looking south, February 2021... |
Similarly, this underpass lies on the parish boundary and it seems obvious to adopt it as a marker.
17. Beech(es), Nor Wood
Derek Church refers to a beech marked “1966” in this area but is somewhat vague about the location. On the western edge of the "plotlands" there is a fallen beech bearing dates from 1985 back to 1966 that was presumably toppled by the storm of 1987 and may well be the tree referred to. Close by, another beech tree has been adopted and bears dates from 1990 to 2012. More recent perambulations seemed to have bypassed this tree.
18. Beech, Warren Hill.
A large old beech in rather poor condition bears the inscriptions “C 1983, 1985 and 2018”. It lies exactly on the parish boundary by my (“sat nav”) reckoning.
19. Hornbeam, Norwood Grove.
This tree bears inscriptions “C 2000, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2015”. It lies about 80m to the east of the actual parish boundary by my reckoning.
20. Gate, Norwood Grove.
A gate in the fence by the path that runs behind the south-eastern corner of the Mausoleum sits right on the parish boundary. It makes sense to adopt this as a marker.
21. The “Toe Memorial”
This ruined monument has an sombre tale to tell. The above animation shows the memorial as it was in 1920, and as it is (sadly) now. Its remains lie very close to the parish boundary and it makes for an interesting boundary marker. The boundary continues due east from this point, parallel to the much more accessible Cobham trail, which lies some 100m to the north.
22. Hornbeam (?) Cobham Trail, Broad Oak Wood
This tree lies about 120m north of the actual boundary. It is inscribed “2018”.
23. Stone, Birch Wood.
This sandstone boulder lies hidden in the undergrowth and features on the 1869 and 1895 OS maps. It is not easy to find, lying in a slight hollow and obscured by undergrowth: indeed, Derek Church sought this stone in 1971 and failed to find it. It lies very close to the parish boundary and may be the stone referred to by the Rev. Charles Moore as No.14 “Stone in Park” (or the one described below). To give an indication of scale, the walking stick in the picture is exactly one yard long.
24. Stone, Birch Wood.
This is another, somewhat larger, sandstone boulder that lies close to the parish boundary. It is not shown on any OS map. Rev. Moore’s “No. 14” may also be this stone (or the one described above). It is also rather hard to find. To give an indication of scale, the walking stick in the picture is exactly one yard long.
25. Hornbeam, Five Throws.
This tree bears the inscription “C 1930”. It lies about 60m north of the true boundary.
26. Chestnut, Great Wood.
This tree is still alive but is obviously of ruinous age. It is almost certainly the tree referred to by the Rev. Charles Moore as “No. 13, Chestnut Birch Wood”. Any inscriptions are indecipherable.
The north-eastern parish boundary from this point has undergone several changes since around 1935.
The original parish boundary so keenly defended by Caleb Parfect (and as indicated on maps up to around 1935) ran from this chestnut tree in an east south-easterly direction towards Ranscombe Farm (see the thin blue line on the above map). OS maps indicate a series of markers (all long gone) as the boundary makes for the river: there was a post at the north-western edge of Cobham Shaw (i) and a stone by the path to the east of Ranscombe Farm (j). The boundary continued east south-east to a boundary marker by the South Eastern railway cutting (l), dipped down to another marker by the North Kent Railway cutting (m), past a post (“n” - probably the one referred to on the Rev. Charles Moore’s list as “No.1 Post In Marsh) and thence to the river to the west of Wickham Reach (the parish boundary continuing southwards down the centre of the Medway until Whorne’s Place).
However, the boundary seems to have been shifted just before WW2: the 1935 6-inch OS map shows the boundary as heading north-east from the old chestnut tree and taking the current route up to where the Albatross Road underpass is now. It then headed north to the old A2 Watling Street and ran east on the other side of the road, dipping back due south to the west of Rede Common (see the thick red line on the above map). At a marker stone (k) above the old Wickham cement works chalk quarry that is now the Medway Gate estate, the boundary headed south east towards the river, reaching the Medway to the east of Wickham Reach.
In 1960, the 1/25000 OS Map showed that the boundary went through the quarry, rather than skirting its north-eastern edge, and picking up the original path down to the river to the west of Wickham Reach (orange line on the above map).
The 1967 OS Map removed the loop up to Watling Street, with the boundary now heading down and across the quarry from the Albatross Road underpass (thick blue line on the above map).
The current parish boundary, following the eastern edge of M2 bridge from the underpass directly to the river, appears to have been adopted in 1968.
27. Hornbeam Stand, Cobham Trail, Great Wood.
There is a fine stand of hornbeams on the path just where the parish boundary comes up from the old chestnut tree (26) and re-joins the main track. None are marked.
28. Hornbeam Stand, Cobham Trail, Great Wood.
There is also a stand of hornbeams on the path just where the parish boundary leaves the main track and heads north-east to the Albatross Road underpass. None are marked.
29. Hornbeam, Clay Pond Wood
This tree is inscribed with dates back to 1990. It lies about 100m east of the actual boundary.
30. Underpass to Albatross Road - "Knight's Stone"
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| Albatross Road M2 underpass, Strood side... |
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| "Knight's Stone"... |
The parish boundary runs through this tunnel and then turns right, following the Strood side of the M2. Just to the right as you come through to the Strood side on the southern edge of the Knight's Place estate, there is a rather nice stone post with a knight's head picked out in tessellated ceramic mosaic. It makes for a good boundary marker.
31. Footbridge to subway under M2
It is possible to follow the parish boundary fairly closely as it tracks along the south-eastern edge of the M2, until it reaches the footbridge that takes you back across the M2 into Cuxton. The boundary cannot be followed further south from this point, as the map makes clear. A wise person would now call it a day and head back to the White Hart...
32. Roundabout from A228 to eastbound M2.
The parish boundary passes through the centre of this roundabout, which can be seen from the Strood side of the footbridge back to Cuxton as above. There seems little point in trying to physically get to it as there are no nearby footpaths, what with it being a busy motorway junction and all that...
33. Path under A228.
To re-join the boundary in its south-eastern track towards the river, one would need to cross the above footbridge back into Cuxton and then come down through Ranscombe and back onto the A228. The spot right under the A228 road bridge on the Strood side is, of course, on the current parish boundary and also marks a point on the old pre-1935 boundary. The determined perambulator can reach this place by climbing over the low barrier and taking the rough track down to it by the edge of the bridge to the path. One could then head along the pedestrian path out to the middle of the M2 bridge, which would place you around some 35m above the parish boundary as it then turns and follows the centre of the River Medway back to Whorne's Place...
34. The M2 bridge
...or you could leave the parish boundary and take the path back onto the main A228 and thence into the Medway Valley Leisure park. There is a nice path along the river that takes you back to the parish boundary under the western side of the M2 bridge. The huge concrete support for the central cantilever section of the bridge makes about as much of a permanent boundary marker as is possible. Derek Church notes that in 1966 he cajoled a colleague (Geoff Capeling - who is still very much around and is a keen bell-ringer at Cuxton Church) into piloting a canoe bearing the pair of them from here down to Whorne's Place, an act of perambulatory fanaticism that has since yet to be repeated as far as I know. These days, attempting such a feat would be doomed to failure as free access back to Whorne's Place from the river landing point is sadly no longer possible (there is a gate across the railway bridge that is locked shut).
35. Cuxton Station railway crossing.
By taking the public footpath at the back of "Diggerland" it is possible to walk back from the Medway Valley leisure park under the bridge, as there is a path that runs close to the railway across Brickfields Farm (with nice views over the river whilst one is on the path across the farm fields) and down behind the travellers camp, though the underpass and back to Cuxton Station. "Possible" does not equate with "easy" or "pleasant", however, as (apart from the bit that runs across the farmland) much of the path is sadly overgrown with brambles or strewn with fly-tipped rubbish.
36. The White Hart pub.
The above animation shows the White Hart is it is now and as it was in 1920. This lies about 320m to the north-west of the parish boundary. Although not really a “boundary marker” as such, it seems that most boundary perambulations finish here. On this basis I therefore believe that the White Hart makes a fitting boundary marker to complete a list of 36 reference points.
References:
1) Cuxton: A Kentish Village by Derek Church (published by Arthur J Cassell Ltd, 1976, ISBN 0 903253 12 7), Chapter 2, pp 11-19.
2) Cuxton: Its Past and Its People by Colin S Martin (published 2005)
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