MRP: Deane

Oxenden family house, Deane, Deane House, or Deane Park, Kent

Editorial history

26/08/11, CSG: Created page

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Building history and description

According to Henry Oxinden of Barham, writing in his common place book, Deane or Deane House was built by Henry Oxinden of Dene Esq:r "in or about the year 1584." Henry Oxinden the builder, according to the Barham Henry "was borne about the yeare 1513: he lived 84 years." Thus, in Henry's building history, Henry Oxinden the builder, was in his early seventies when he had the house erected.

Detail of Wingham section of map of Wingham & Kinghamford hundreds, XXXX

Detail of Wingham section of map of Wingham & Kinghamford hundreds, XXXX

The house was built near the bottom of a gentle valley running west to east, close to Wingham Well and a mile to the south of the town of Wingham. A short spur road from the main house passed the estate manager's house and connected with the Wingham to Adisham public road, which ran southwards past Deane and on to Broome Park and Maydekin, home of Henry Oxinden of Barham.

The house was located in the parish of Wingham, but historically there appears to have been a borough of Deane as well as a borough of Wingham. In a list of contributors to the first payment of a second central Westminster subsidy, dated 30th March 1602, there are eight names in the borough of Deane, with "Henrye Oxinden gent." listed with "[land] xx:li [goods] xx:li". Edward Oxinden gent. was one of the sessors.

Dene Farm, near Wingham, XXXX

Dene Farm, near Wingham, XXXX

There are few textual references to the building fabric of Deane in the early and mid-seventeenth century. One exception is the state of the little parlour at Deane, which merited a note in Henry Oxinden's common place book:

"Iuly 2.1655 the little parlor at Deane fell down"

Henry Oxinden of Barham appears to have had the subject of parlours big and small on his mind, since against November 1659 he entered into his common place details of his own parlours:

"My great parlour in length 22f 6 inches
In bredth 18f.
In hight 10 f.

My little parlour in length 19 f
In bredth 15 f
In hight 8 f. 2 in"

Eight years after its collapse, the Deane little parlour was once again a subject of Oxenden attention. This time it was Elizabeth Dallison, cousin of the common place book keeper, writing to Sir George Oxenden in Surat. Praising the new (third) wife of Sir Henry Oxenden, the now owner of Deane, she wrote:

"The letter parlor is pulled quite downe & shee will have it soo & I beleeve is willing to helpe sett it up againe."

Lady Margaret Oxenden, Elizabeth's mother, took up the story three days later, likewise in a letter to Sir George:

"yo:r Brother is up to y:e eyes in Building about y:t long desired reformation of the little parlor w:ch proves á greater worke than was thought for, for it ois & was thought fitt to begin at y:e little study in y:e galiry & soo pull downe all & built it up answerable to y:e Rest of the house, w:ch is done & will Cost more money than was expected it Would. But y:e Lord hath given my Sonn a wife w:ch proves á much helpe for him every way very tender & Carefull as to all his Concerns (sic) a bout this Building & som other ocations (sic) hath besides her Joynter (sic) given him 400: 500:ll 200:ll now at y:s instant of tyme of her owne good will, not at all desired throwne into his building worke; because as she sayes hee should gooon Cherfully & doo it handsume."

In an addendum to the above letter Lady Margaret gave the dimensions of the little parlour:

"y:e Roome is 20:ffeett square & a handsome oueld table bespoke for it"

But it is Sir Henry Oxenden who proudly gives us the definitive description of his building work:

"I am now in great action w:th rebuilding y:e little parler w:ch I finde will bee a pleasant & Comodious roome, it will prove twenty feet Long & aboud eighteene feete wide I sett y:e Chimney for y:e more advantage to y:e Two Roomes at y:e head of y:e parlor w:th lights at Both sides w:ch will bee light sufficient to y:e whole parlor I have alsoe enlarged my out=lett w:ch will give in w:t light I please, y:e Chimnet stands as S:r H: Palmer dooth in his great parlor w:ch is alsoe a great strengthening to y:e [blank of 2 cm in original left by original copyist] I have now 14: men at worke which keepe mee in employm:t to Looke after them I hope you will like my worke when you see it"

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Published contemporary images and descriptions

Images exist for Deane dating from c. 1719, 1794, 1825, and 1840.

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Deane, Badeslade, 1719

The first image is an engraving by Badeslade illustrating the house, outhouses and formal gardens, and was published in John Harris’ The history of Kent in 1719.

Deane, Badeslade, 1719

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Dean, seat of Sir Henry Oxenden, Kentish Register, 1793

Dean, seat of Sir Henry Oxenden, Kentish Register, 1793

Just over one hundred years later Neale remarked in 1825 that “Deane Park is situated in a beautifully wooded valley, at the southern extremity of the parish of Wingham, about two miles from Lee Priory, and about the same distance from Goodnestone Park. He described it as a “venerable mansion, which is large and noble in its appearance.” The engraving illustrating his entry on Deane Park is described as being taken from near the end of a “very fine old avenue of horse chesnuts.” A less mature tree lined avenue can be seen on Badeslade’s 1719 engraving of the house and gardens. A painting attributed to Charles Tattershall/Dodd and dated 1840 appears to show a circular carriage drive at the front of the house. This is not visible in Neale’s 1825 engraved illustration and was also absent from Badeslade’s engraving. However, it is visible in the Kentish Register's 1794 engraving. It is possible that Neale's engraving, though published in 1825, is based on a pre-1793 plate.

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Deane Park, Neale, 1825

Deane Park, Neale, 1825

The main house as described by Neale was three stories in height with high pointed gables. Neale suggested that the gables “appear to have originally been ornamented with small cylindrical shafts on the bases and points,” but that they had now been destroyed by time. The mid- to late-sixteenth century character of the building was still visible, most of the windows having “ancient mullions and transoms to divide the lights.” Some of the windows had painted glass displaying the arms of the family. There was a small sun dial over the front centre entrance. The building it was claimed in 1825 appeared substantially unaltered since its building and retained a “stately appearance.” The grounds, however, had been modified in the mid-seventeenth century, with some limited internal alterations.

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Kent, Cary's New Itinerary, 1810

Kent, Cary's New Itinerary, 1810

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Estate

There is no estate map for Deane and surviving textual references to the size and nature of the lands and tenements associated with the house are very limited. Sir George Oxenden's elder brother, Sir Henry Oxenden, wrote only sparingly of estate matters. Occasionally a vivid detail appears in the younger brother's Surat letter books. For example, in April 1663 Lady Margaret Oxenden asks Sir George to look after Solly's boy, possibly the son of a family friend. Sir George had taken the boy with him the proceeding September to Surat. Lady Margaret muses:

"hee Came home ragged & poore, & runna bout heere all y:e summer keepeing of hoggs & Cowes"

On another occasion, in April 1667, one of the tenants had been giving Henry trouble and he was dismissed:

Y:o tenant Palsion is turned Quaker & will doo no duties to Church or State, by serveing in any office ir bearing armes, soe we part w:th him this michaelmas & have put in a Conformist in his roome, very honest and able

In 1775 the Oxenden family moved its main residence to Broome Park, the former home of the Dixwells, the building of which had been observed by Henry Oxinden of Barham in his common place books. In contrast to the house at Deane, which was demolished in the early to mid nineteenth century, the house at Broome Park has survived and is in good condition.

Detail of Barham section of Wingham & Kinghamford Hundreds, XXXX, XXXX

Detail of Barham section of Wingham & Kinghamford Hundreds, XXXX, XXXX

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Deane in the nineteenth century

Deane house, later referred to as Deane (or Dene) Park, appears to have remained inhabited until at least the early nineteenth century, though the tenants of the house are largely unknown. The fourth edition of Cary's New Itinerary, printed in 1810, records "Near Wingham, on r. Dene park - Rice, Esq.; and between Wingham and Ash, on r. Brook, H. Oxendon, Esq." The sixteenth edition of Patterson's Roads, published in 1822, still records the Oxenden name against Dean Park: "Wingham. Near, Deane Park, Sir Henry Oxenden, Bart." Neale in his description of the building published in 1825 describes a venerable building, but one which is not in ruinous condition. Benjamin Clarke's New Gazeteer, published in 1852, states that from Adisham "N.11/2 m. is Dene Park."

Possibly then, but without confirmation to date, the estate or part of the estate associated with Deane house stayed within the family.

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Early C19th memoir of Broome Park and De(a)ne

A memoir of a later Sir Henry Oxenden (1756-1838), of Broome Park, written by his estate manager, makes mention of both Broome Park and Deane (with the spelling given as Dene). The estate manager had worked for Sir Henry for nine years, from 1829 to 1838, so the colour the account provides refers chiefly to that period.

Sir Henry's farm at Broome was described as having an uneven quality of land: "his farm being of that tenacious, strong, and uneven description." By then the estates had about 250 acres of arable land, producing turnips, oats, barley and beans. He fattened bullocks from Michaelmas to April for sale, generally having sixty to eighty such animals, and also fattened hogs, rearing ten good sized hogs "which were required yearly for the consumption of the mansion." Early fat lambs were reared and generally sold to Dover butchers, who collected them from the farm. Sheep were Sir Henry's passion, presumably in part the result of poor quality grazing, with noblemen and gentlemen, or in their stead their stewards and shephards, attending an annual "sheep day" on Sir Henry's estate to improve their flocks.

As for Dene, Sir Henry's estate manager writes:

“Sir Henry, for many years, paid great attention to the cultivation of hops. He had (and his father before him) a rather large quantity in cultivation at Dene, in the parish of Wingham, which was reduced from time to time to about 15 acres. These were known to almost everyone, as the old Dene Ground, having been planted before the memory of the oldest inhabitants in Wingham; and was, very probably, one of the oldest as well as the best grounds in that neighbourhood….being a distance of 6 miles from Broome, the superintendence of it was left to the tenant of Dene Farm, close by. For many years previous to Sir Henry’s decease, the late Mr. Richard Laslett had been the tenant, a most worthy and good man, to whom Sir Henry was much attached. And previous to his occupation of the farm, the family of Hawks had, for very many years, been the tenants, to whom also the management of the hop grounds had been entrusted.”

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Location of demolished Deane house and surviving farm buildings

Several listed buildings in the Wingham area appear to be linked to the former Deane house estates:

A C16th and C17th barn survives about fifty metres south south east of Dene farmhouse on Dene farm Lane near the Wingham Adisham road. Its Grade II listing describes it as "Timber framed and clad with red brick, with concrete tiled and slated roofs. Hipped main range stepped down and half-hipped to right, with buttressed cart doors to left, and hipped mid-strey to right. Interior : main range of 6 bays with aisles with passing shores to arcade posts and wind braces to clasped purlin roof with inserted queen struts, extended by 4 bays and aisles with passing shores, with low level, clasped purl in roof.

A pair of cottages dated as late C17th are also located on Dene Farm Lane. Its Grade II listing states: "Cottage pair. Late C17. Red brick and plain tiled roof. Two storeys on plinth with rendered quoins and plat band raised over original ground floor openings, with double dogtooth cornice to roof with stacks to rear left and to rear right. Three glazing bar sashes on first floor and 2 on ground floor, with 2 boarded doors to centre with rectangular fanlights. The four-centred arches and segmental heads of earlier blocked openings visible on ground floor."

Finally, Dene farmhouse itself has survived from the late C16th, though significantly modifed and extended. It was built as the steward's house for the now demolished Deane house. Its Grade II listing states: "House. Late C16, altered and extended 1904. Timber framed with red brick infill on base and plaster on first floor, with plain tiled roof. Four framed bays. Two storeys with continuous jetty on brackets with moulded bressumer, and hipped roof with stack cluster to centre right, and stack and gable to left. Five wooden casements of alternate 3 and 2 lights on first floor, and 4 wooden casements of 4 and 2 lights on ground floor with rib and stud door to centre left. Single storey extension to left, built 1904 on re-used bricks. Early C20 extension to rear. Built as stewards house for demolished Dene House, until 1775 the seat of the Oxendens."

The 1906 Ordinance Survey 6" per mile map (map 156) shows "Dene House & Deane Farm" in the parish of Wingham

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Image credits

- Photograph, Dene Farm, near Wingham. View NNW. Taken Thursday, 20 April, 2006. © Copyright - David Long and licensed for reuse under a - Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)
'Deane Park', Engraving, Neale, John Preston, and Thomas Moule, ’Dean Parke’ in Views of the seats of noblemen and gentlemen, in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland (XXXX, 1825). Book and image are out of copyright
Cary, John, Cary's New itinerary: or, An accurate delineation of the great roads,: both direct and cross, throughout England and Wales; with many of the principal roads in Scotland, 4th edn. (London, 1810), digital image, p. 15. Book and image are out of copyright
'Dean. One of the seats of Sir H. Oxenden' in The Kentish Register, January 1794, between p. 14 & 15. Book and image are out of copyright
- 'Dean, The seat of Sir Henry Oxenden, bart.' by Badeslade. Originally published in Harris, XXXX. Reproduced in M.E.Macartney, English houses and gardens in the 17th and 18th centuries (London, 1908), plate XII Book and image are out of copyright

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Sources

Cary, John, Cary's New itinerary: or, An accurate delineation of the great roads,: both direct and cross, throughout England and Wales; with many of the principal roads in Scotland, 4th edn. (London, 1810), p. 15
Clarke, Benjamin, The British gazetteer, political, commercial, ecclesiastical, and historical: showing the distances of each place from London and Derby--gentlemen's seats--populations ... &c., vol. 1 (London, 1852)
Harris, John, History of Kent (XXXX, 1719)
Neale, John Preston, and Thomas Moule, ’Dean Parke’ in Views of the seats of noblemen and gentlemen, in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland (XXXX, 1825)
Patterson, Daniel, Patterson's roads, 16th edn. (XXXX, 1822)
Recollections of the Late Sir Henry Oxenden, Bart.,of Broome Park, Respectfully Inscribed to Robert Collard, Esq., of Reculver, Edward Gibbens, Esq., of Minster, and the Tenantry of the Broome Estate by a Late Steward (Canterbury, 1862)
Toynbee, Helen Wrigley & Paget Jackson Toynbee, Supplement to The letters of Horace Walpole: fourth earl of Orford, vol. 3 (Oxford, 1925), p. 84
- see "On Wednesday we went in the morning to Sr George Oxenden's at Deane House in the Parish of Wingham, which is a good old home, but made worth seeing by some very fine Pictures, particularly one in water colours of Christ disputing with the Doctors, and another in Oyl of the ..."

BL, MS. XXXXX, Oxinden, Henry (of Barham), Henry Oxenden common place books, ca. 1630-167X, Add. MSS. 54332 -54334
BL, MS. XXXXX, Oxinden, Henry (of Barham), Henry Oxenden common place books, ca. 1670, Add. MSS. 28010; Add. MSS. 28012; BL, MS. XXXXX, Add. MSS. 28013
BL, MS. XXXXX, Add. MSS 54,332 Henry Oxenden Common Place Book, f. 2r
BL, MS. XXXXX, Add. 42081 Oxenden, accompt. C17th f. 12

BL, MS. XXXXX, Letter from Sir Henry Oxenden to Sir GO, April 1667, ff. 92-99