Wainscott, Kent
Wainscott is a small village in Rochester, in Kent. It is in the civil parish of Frindsbury Extra, in the Medway Unitary Authority, that is Medway Council. By 1950 it had been absorbed into the neighbouring residential areas of Strood. Wainscott itself is located immediately next to Frindsbury, and is surrounded by beautiful agricultural land, as well as ancient woodlands. It is speculated that the name is derived from the OE meaning Wagonner Cot or Wagon Shed.
Wainscott History. Archaeological excavations in 2007 on the north-eastern edge of Wainscott revealed evidence for human activity dating from the early prehistoric through to the post-medieval period, and provided important new evidence for Bronze Age, Romano-British and Saxon settlement. By the mid-8th century the kings of Kent were granting estates in the area by charters to the bishops of Rochester and their cathedral. In 738 King Eadberht gave 10 ploughlands at Andscohesham in the territory of Hoo to Bishop Ealdwulf. In 764 King Sigered of west Kent gave 20 ploughlands of arable land at Æslingaham on the west side of the Medway to Bishop Eardwulf, with seven named denes in the Weald, and this grant was confirmed by King Offa of Mercia. This charter was later regarded as including Frindsbury and Wich, and it seems likely that it included the Wainscott area. These grants were also confirmed to Bishop Wærmund in 789 by King Offa, who in later centuries was regarded as the benefactor who had given Frindsbury to the bishopric, under the name of Eslingham cum appendiciis. In 889 Bishop Swithwulf and the cathedral community at Rochester granted to a certain Beorhtwulf half of a ploughland with specified boundaries at Haddun with detached meadows at Beckley and Strood. The boundaries include ealden strete, perhaps to be identified as Hoo Road, wen weg, and Ciolmundesland. By the Late Saxon period the estates of Kent were divided up into lathes and hundreds. The Wainscott area lay in the Lathe of Aylesford and the Hundred of Shamwell. In the late eleventh century the hamlet of Wainscott may have been established by this time at the junction of the crossroads, although there is no written evidence for it. Its name probably means ‘wagon shelter’, suggesting a subordinate role in the larger estate of Frindsbury. At the time of the Domesday survey in 1086 the manor of Frandesberie was held by the bishop of Rochester. It had been assessed at 10 sulungs in 1066. There was a separate manor of Wainscott which had emerged from the parent manor of Frindsbury by the early 14th century. It was also called ‘Parlabien’s Yoke’ after the family which held it at this time. It afterwards descended to the Colepeper family, which held it until the late 16th century. In the years 1494–1504 it was divided into two halves, and court records survive for one of these moieties. However, very little business was transacted beyond the collection of fines from tenants who failed to attend. If the extent of the manor was really one yoke, it would not have been more than 50 acres. The fields underlying the north excavation area to the north of Hoo Road were in the manor, as were a series of smaller fields along the south side of the road as far as the stream. Beyond the stream to the north-east were the fields of Islingham manor; to the south of the road lay parts of the manors of Frindsbury and Chattenden. At the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s, the manor of Frindsbury with its appendages was confiscated from Rochester Priory by Henry VIII, but was subsequently passed on to the Dean and Chapter of Rochester in 1542. The manor of Wainscott was sold in the late 16th century, and passed by a series of descents and sales to John Boghurst, who held it in the late 18th century. He still held a court leet and a court baron for the manor at this time. Post-medieval and modern maps and documents indicate that the area of the site comprised a number of agricultural fields, both within Islingham and Wainscott manors – extracts taken from www.kentarchaeology.org.uk – Prehistoric and Romano-British Activity and Saxon Settlement at Hoo Road, Wainscott, Kent by Nicholas Cooke and Rachael Seager Smith.
Tilemaking at Wainscott
A map dated 1711 shows this hamlet as consisting of a house and a few cottages known as Windscott, the name probably referring to a collection of cottages in an exposed or windy place. The house was called 'White Horse' and, since the hamlet was situated on a crossroads on the road to the Isle of Grain, it may well have been an inn. By 1838, the name had been corrupted to Wainscott and a local pottery industry was already in existence by 1842. The main works was the Wainscott Pottery owned by a Henry Hone and next to this was a smaller operation owned by Thomas Fox. The reason for their location is easily explained by investigation of the local land ownership at this time.
Nearby at Four Elms Hill were two clay pits owned by a William Beadle, who was something of an entrepreneur. Beadle also owned the land to the immediate east of the road in Wainscott and it was here that the potteries were set up. Thus, not only did he sell the clay to the potteries but he also got the rent from their premises as well as the adjacent workers’ cottages. It must have been quite a monopoly for him as well as being rather lucrative. Both potteries produced tiles for the expanding building industry and some may have found their way to London together with the local brick trade.
The tithe records also list an Edward Hone and a John Hone. It is not known if they were related to Henry Hone but it is possible that this was an example of a family diversifying into all aspects of supplying the building industry. Henry later went on to own the Kings Arms pub and John the Old Oak Inn.
By 1858, there had been a change of proprietors and the potteries were now owned by Thomas Baker and Jesse Clark Foster. It is likely that the larger premises belonged to the latter since, in 1877, Foster bought the clay pits from the Executors of Beadle who had by then died. With this assumption, Baker must have sold out after a few years to Messrs Charlton & Matthews since, in the book "Industrial Medway" by J.M. Preston, they are mentioned in an advertisement dated 1868. This reference is interesting since it shows the diverse range of products being produced i.e. oven & paving bricks and tiles; pan, plain & ridge tiles; sanitary & land drainage pipes; chimney, flower & paint pots; garden & edging tiles.
In the meantime, Foster continued to expand his pottery and took his son Theophilus into partnership in 1867. In 1871 they were shown as brick and tile manufacturers but there is no evidence that they had the necessary equipment at their clay pits to make bricks on site. Since it was a competitive business locally, it is more likely that they produced specialised bricks at their premises. In 1882 they sold out to Francis Hazell, who produced bricks, tiles, drainpipes and chimney & garden pots.
The 1862 Ordnance Survey map shows a draw well next to each of the potteries. Whereas these may only be water wells, there is also the possibility that they were chalk wells. The census of 1871 lists a William Eloine of Wainscott who was described as an ‘excavator’. This is a peculiar term since men who dug clay were normally described as merely labourers and it seems to imply extraction at depth. He could of course have been a local well sinker but, again, the latter term is usually used in census job descriptions. One clue is given in an article on deneholes written by F.J. Spurrell in 1882, when he mentions a denehole which was then being used at Plumstead for a tile works. It is known that a small quantity of chalk was added to normal bricks to prevent shrinkage during firing and possibly this was also done in the case of tiles. If products of a yellow colour were required, like the Stock Bricks, a greater proportion of chalk would have to be added to get the colouration. Thus, it is possible that the local tile works had chalkwells on the premises to obtain their own supplies of chalk.
Enumerator’s Description of Wainscott on 1861 Census
Part of the Parish of Frindsbury without the boundary of Rochester. Comprises all the houses and cottages which lies on the south west side of the Land Water Sewer from White Wall Creek to the High Road leading from Hoo to Wainscott, Small’s Farm and Brompton Farm including the Quarry Farm and Cottages, Chatt Home houses, White Wall Cottages, Manor Farm and cottages. Wainscott both sides, Home Street both sides, and Bill Street both sides with Brompton Farm
The History of the Stag Inn, 56 Wainscott Road
The 1851 census shows that living at 58 Wainscott Road was a Henry Hove with his family and he was a ‘retailer of beer’. The 1861 census reveals that Henry Briggs was living in the same area of Wainscott with his family, his niece and four lodgers. His 22-year-old son George Briggs was described as a ‘licensed victualler’ & a ‘labourer in the War Department’. An Ordnance map for 1871 denotes a BH where the current Stag Inn is located. The 1871 census shows a William Perch, a ‘licensed victualler’ aged 70 was living in the beer house with his wife Anne. 1878 licensing records show that George Cheeseman was then the licensed victualler. The 1881census shows Robert Harris aged 27 ‘licensed victualler’ living there with his wife and a 16-year-old general servant. The 1891 census reveals that 49-year-old licensed victualler John Potterton lived there with his wife, a bar maid and a general servant. An 1897 Ordnance map denotes a P and also states ‘Stag Inn’. The 1901 Ordnance map denotes ‘Stag Inn’. The 1901 census shows Jane Potterton aged 59, a widow and licensed victualler living there with a servant, a 14-year-old pot boy barman and two visitors. The 1911 census shows A Francis H Jones aged 46, a licensed victualler living there with his family. In 1918 licensing records show a William B Day, a licensed victualler living there. A 1927 Ordnance map shows ‘Stag Inn’. The 1930 licensing records show a Samuel Pope, licensed victualler living there. The 1939 Register shows a John Henry Miles aged 68, a licensed victualler living there with a 99-year-old housekeeper.
Wainscott is now bypassed to the east by the 'Wainscott Eastern Bypass' and to the north by 'Wainscott Northern Bypass'. These roads, both named the A289, lead traffic from the A2 to the Medway Tunnel. These two roads meet at the 'Four Elms Roundabout', where the A228 climbs 'Four Elms Hill' and onto the Hoo Peninsula, where the A228 becomes the Ratcliffe Highway, that then passes the Deangate Ridge Golf Club on the left and takes the second roundabout exit on the Main Road into Hoo itself. At the top of Four Elms Hill is the village of Chattenden, that has much MOD land, especially in and around Chattenden Army Barracks. The village has had many homes erected within it on ex-farm/MOD land. These homes were developed by Crest Nicholson and the estate is known locally and officially as 'Liberty Park'. The development includes many different types of accommodation including homes and elderly accommodation for the local residents later years.
Wainscott is situated within the parish of Frindsbury Extra.