We are fortunate to have this book in two volumes about the history of Chelsfield written by Arthur Thomas Waring (1851 to 1920) between 1904 and 1914. It covers the four ancient manors of Chelsfield, the history of St Martin’s Church, ancient Chelsfield families, manorial properties and lots more. It is the painstaking work of a keen local historian with access to a wide range of original material. Arthur Waring was a thorough historian, and the book is a treasure trove of information about Chelsfield’s past. He draws on wills, deeds and manorial records in the possession of the Waring family, and parish records at St Martin’s Church. To understand the book it helps to have some understanding of the sources - parish registers, churchwardens’ books, willIs and court rolls, but the book itself forms a good introduction to the type of information these records contain. The book is the more valuable as the whereabouts of all the original source documents are not now known. The book covers the old parish of Chelsfield, larger than today, and so embraces the ancient manors of Chelsfield, Hewetts, Norsted, and Goddington. Arthur Waring produced three editions of this work in longhand, and photocopies of the earliest version are held for reference only in the Bromley Local Studies Library. (They can be found with Barcodes 30128017111405, and 30128012624501; or at shelfmarks History LGL L265s/LSK and Media Studies LSK 942.23.) The document was transcribed by Sarah Tanner in 1992, and it is thanks to her work and that of Geoffrey Copus in producing a scan of the transcript that the two volumes of the transcribed version are now available on this website in digital form as three pdf files. It is a lengthy document, so do check before you print it out. PDF 1 - History of Parish, Church and School PDF 2 - Assistance to the Poor, Places and People PDF 3 - transcribed Wills and Deeds and Index This extract tells of a marriage in 1869, where there was an unusual objection. This is the transcription: The Villagers were amused in 1869 by the somewhat rare event of banns of marriage being objected to by the son of one of the would be contracting parties. – the objector, as is usual in such cases, was requested to go into the Vestry after the Service, and state his reasons.- I have been told by one that was present that when he arrived in the Vestry he gave the following as the grounds of his objection “That his father was an old fool, and had no need of a Wife”. – Which was hardly a sufficient reason for preventing the marriage. To help the reader navigate the material Waring’s original index is reproduced below as it relates to each of the three pdfs. Original spellings have been retained. The INDEX at the very end of pdf 3 is an alphabetical list of subjects, names and places and is a good place to start if you are looking for a particular place or person. • PDF 1 Pages 1 to 87 o Chelsfield page 1 o The Manor of Chelsfield page 20 o The Manor of Hewetts page 34 o The Manor of Goddington page 38 o The Manor of Norstead page 40 o The Church page 42 o The Bells page 46 o Church Music page 48 o Church Plate page 49 o Monuments in the Church page 51 o The Churchyard page 62 o Rectors of Chelsfield page 63 o The Curates of Chelsfield page 75 o Churchwardens of Chelsfield page 78 o Parish Clerks of Chelsfield page 84 o Education and School page 86 • PDF 2 Pages 88 to 127 o The Poor page 88  Guardians page 90  Overseers page 91 o Chelsfield Properties page 94  Lillies page 94  Gilman Brimstone page 95  Bucks Cross and the Five Bells page 96  Fairtrough page 97  Cackets, Hempstalls page 98  Picketts, Washness page 99  Simons Hawe page 100  Green Street Green Farm page101 or Chelsfield Hall, Coxcroft  Walnuttrees page 102  Whiteheads page 103  Cross Hall, Kidders page 104  Rounds, TheEleven Cricketters page 105  The Wheatsheaf page 105  Eveshole, Rough Garden page 106 or Rose Garden with Sextees  Mount Hall or Walnuttrees page 108  Leach Croft page 108  Riddenshaw page 109  Pax, Wheatfields page 110  The Porcupine Inn page 111 o Hamlets of Chelsfield: page 112  Pratts Bottom, Green Street Green, West hill, Maypole, Bo-peep o Wages Rents Cost of living etc page 113 o Old Chelsfield Families page 117  Alwen, Arrow page 117  Blundel, Bowen, Brooks page 118  Dunmall, French page 119  Graves, Hills, Verrells page 120  Whitehead page 121  Petley pedigree page 122  Wakelens page 126  Brasier page 127 • PDF 3 pages 128 to end o Appendix I 1788 Perambulation page 128 o Appendix II Deeds and wills page 131  1448 Wheatfields page 131  1479 Wheatfields page 131  1488 Indenture page 133  1509 Will Henry Beverych page 134  1513 Will John Beverych page 135  1522 Deed of sale of Hewetts page 136  1522 Will of William Petley page 139  1542 Will of Robert Nisham page 142  1572 Will of James Wafer page 143  1590 Will of Wiliam Mace page 143  1588 Award of Arbitration page 144  1597 Will of John Brasyr page 146  1599 Will of William Petley page 147  1600 Lease of Coxcroft page 149  1603 settlement of Bucks Cross page 151  1608 Collets Charity Deed page 156  1623 Collets Charity Deed page 159  1631 Will of Abraham Dalton page 164  1646 Will of John Brasier page 165  1668 Will of Robert Petley page 166  1672 Will of Anthony Hobbs page 169 o The family of Goodhays page 171 INDEX [an alphabetical index of subject matter including names and places]