The History of Boughton Monchelsea Place
Boughton Monchelsea Place, near Maidstone, Kent ME17 4BU, was at one
time the residence of Sir Francis Barnham.
The recorded history of Boughton Monchelsea begins before the Norman Conquest. It was then called Boltone, later Bacton, meaning a clearing in a beech wood. Before the Conquest, it belonged to the Saxon Earl Godwin. William the Conqueror granted the manor, together with many others in Kent, to his half-brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux. The Bishop then fell into disgrace and all his property was confiscated. At the end of the 12th Century Boughton came into the possession of the Montchensies (a Norman family) from whom the second part of the name of the village derives. The Montchensies were an important family, with large possessions in Norfolk, Suffolk and Kent. The line died out when William de Montchensie was killed in a mining operation at the siege of Dryslwyn Castle near Carmarthen, in 1287.
William's Daughter Dionysia married Hugh de Vere, son of the Earl of
Oxford.
Robert Rudston, son of Sir John Rudston (d. 1531), scion of a
Yorkshire landowning family, had come south, made a fortune as a draper, bought
more land and was Lord Mayor of London. As a boy, Robert was brought up not far
away. His mother, now widowed, married Sir Edward Wotton of Boughton Malherbe,
who was Treasurer of Calais and an executor of King Henry VIII. Robert Rudston
then married Anne Wotton, his stepfather's daughter by his first marriage. (The
arms of Anne Wotton and Rudston appear on the right hand side of the
southernmost window in the Entrance Hall).
In January, 1554, when Rudston had only lived at Boughton for 3 years, he joined the revolt against Catholic Queen Mary. This revolt, led by his friend Thomas Wyatt, was crushed and Wyatt was beheaded. Rudston was locked in the Tower of London and his land was confiscated. He was released in 1555 and allowed to lease Boughton from the Crown. Then, in the latter part of 1555, he was allowed to re-purchase the lands for £1,000.
In 1575, Rudston had recovered enough to have the House lengthened
eastwards and he added the present east wing and two more wings to enclose the
Courtyard. An inventory of 1613 shows that it contained 14 bedrooms, a hall, a
gallery, two dining rooms, three other living rooms and a large number of other
rooms connected with the storage and preparation of food. Robert Rudston was a
man of culture, but a difficult character. Sir Francis Barnham described him as
'a brave gentleman, and of a very lovinge disposition, but so furiously
chollericke as required a greate deale of discretion to avoyd the incounter of
that humor.'
Rudston died in 1590, leaving Boughton to his younger son, Belknap Rudston.
On Belknap's death, in 1613, the male line of the Rudstons came to an
end, and Boughton passed to Sir Francis Barnham (son of Belknap's older sister
who had married Sir Martin Barnham). Robert Barnham was created a Baronet in
1663 and was MP of Maidstone from 1660-1679. He, and his father before him,
represented Maidstone in Parliament for 43 years. Robert was a Royalist at
heart and took part in the Kentish Rising of 1648. This rising was sparked off
by Parliament clamping down on religious and traditional observances at
Christmas. Robert Barnham died in 1685 and, passing over the daughters of his
first marriage, left Boughton to his only child by his second marriage - a
daughter, Philadelphia, who was married to Thomas Rider of Essex. The Riders
came to Boughton in 1685, and made the first alterations since Rudston's time.
The original Tudor staircase did not fit in with the more gracious way of life,
so the wide, shallow staircase to the first floor was put in.
Little is known of the first Thomas Rider, (d 1698), or of his son
Sir Barnham Rider (d 1728). Both, however, were apparently hard drinkers.
Philadelphia, who died in 1730, left £400 to her grandson, another Thomas (aged
now 12), to 'educate him as a gentleman so that he might be sensible of how
fatal intemperance had been to his Father and Grandfather.' Young Thomas
inherited the property, which he enlarged. He was High Sheriff and was
knighted, but never married. In fact, for a period of 175 years, between 1728
and 1903, there were children in the House for only 30 years. It was possibly
during Thomas' time that the north and west wings of the House were pulled
down. At 30 years of age and a bachelor, Thomas probably thought the house too
big and dilapidated (due to his father's and grandfather's money having been
spent on drink). Sir Thomas died in 1786 and was succeeded by his cousin Ingram
Rider.
Ingram Rider had lived at Yalding (Buston Manor) and produced 14 children. He and his son Thomas carried out important alterations to the house before and after 1800, and it was possibly during the second Thomas' time that the north and west wings of the house were pulled down. It was also a time when the taste for 'gothik' had superseded the 18th Century admiration for classic line. About 1790, the windows on the east front were given a gothic air.
The Regency Gothic pillars were placed in the Red Dining Room and
Entrance Hall by Ingram Rider. The turret clock was moved to its present
position. The bell of the clock bears Sir Robert Barnham's name and the date
1647.
In 1801, the formal gardens were swept away, by the third Thomas
Rider. He replaced the entrance through the Stable Yard and laid the present
main drive, creating a romantic approach to the House. Thomas Rider died,
childless, in 1847. He left Boughton to his nephew's younger brother, the
fourth Thomas. In 1868, this Thomas married a Welsh girl and left Boughton for
her village in Wales. When he died in 1887, leaving only a daughter, Boughton
went to the son of his elder brother, in America. The young man came home to
have a look and decided not to stay here. The house remained empty for many
years. The fact that the property remained empty explains the absence of
Victorian additions.
In 1903 Lt. Col. George B. Winch came to Boughton. (He was Chairman of Style & Winch-Maidstone Brewers). His only son having been killed in the First World War, and his adopted son in the Second, the house passed on his death to his nephew, Mr. Michael Bluett Winch. On 11 November 1990 Michael Winch, having never married, passed the house to his Godson, Mr. Charlie Gooch, the present owner.
Telephone 01622 743120 for further information.
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