Tenterden (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
PIttlesden; Pitlesden; Pittelesden

In the civil parish of Tenterden.
In the historic county of Kent.
Modern Authority of Kent.
1974 county of Kent.
Medieval County of Kent.

OS Map Grid Reference: TQ88233317
Latitude 51.06701° Longitude 0.68519°

Tenterden has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains.

This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*.

Description

In 1487 John Guldeford received a licence to 'crenellate the manors or tenements of Halden, Tenterden, Brockle and Hertrigge, in the parishes of Rolvenden, Tenderden, Crambroke and Ebney, co. Kent'. According to Hasted the Guldeford Family is associated with two of the many manors in Tenterden. These were 'Pitlesden, or Pittelesden, as it was antiently spelt, is situated near the west end of this town' and Kenchill. The first seems to be the main holding. PIttlesden Gatehouse, recorded in Pastscape as 'A four-bay medieval hall, very heavily modernised. Reputedly a gatehouse of the old manor house but there is no documentary evidence to prove this.' is roughly of the right date to be a building produced by this licence. This is a timber framed building, one of three gatehouses to a demolished C14 manor.

PITLESDEN, or Pittelesden, as it was antiently spelt, is situated near the west end of this town. It was once a seat of some note, being the residence of a family of that name, who bore for their arms, Sable, a fess, between three pelicans, or, in whose possession it continued till Stephen Pitlesden, (Philipott, p. 337. See Coll. Peer. vol. ii. p. 302) about the reign of Henry VI. leaving an only daughter and heir Julian, she carried it in marriage to Edward Guldeford, esq. of Halden. (Hasted)

Thought to be the only remaining gatehouse of 3 belonging to a demolished C14 mansion. A timber-framed cottage with plaster infilling, the west end over-hanging on the protruding ends of the floor joists and curved brackets. 2 storeys. Half hipped roof. 2 casement windows. The interior preserves its divisions of solar, hall and service. (Listed Building Report)

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1487 Oct 6 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1070336
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 520751.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) TQ 83 SE 194.

Books
- Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 3 Southern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 440
  Guildford, H.M., 1918, Guildford Genealogy (Minneapolis) p. 23 online copy
  Hasted, Edward, 1798 (2edn), The history and topographical survey of the county of Kent Vol. 7 p. 200-219 online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Coulson, Charles, 2007-8, 'On Crenellating, in Kent and Beyond - A Retrospection' Castle Studies Group Journal Vol. 21 p. 189-201 esp p. 200
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1914, Calendar of Patent Rolls Henry VII (1485-94) Vol. 1 p. 150-1 online copy
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Philipott, Thomas (ed), 1776 (2edn), Villare Cantianum p. 337 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Kent County Council, December 2004, Kent Historic Towns Survey (Kent County Council and English Heritage) view online copy

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.

The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.

*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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