Thames Tributary Darent -Filston
Thames Tributary Darent
The Darent continues northwards, joined by the Twitton Brook
Post to the north Shoreham
Post to the south Otford
Post to the east Shoreham
Post to the west Polhill
Filston Lane
Filston was a sub manor of Shoreham and was let in the 15th to Bishop, Richard Clerk. Part of the Canterbury demesne. The name has the suffix ‘ton’ meaning a settlement. It is ‘Viel’s’ farmstead – apparently a name of French origins
The Filston stream is almost certainly the natural river course, the channel from which it is piped being a millstream, or a canal. Beyond the 'Quadrangle' the stream, flowing deeply impounded between concrete banks and definitely canal-like, as it reaches the mill. The bridge here is basically a steel channel once conducting water from the higher level of the canal to irrigate the meadows.
Filston Hall. 17th moated house. The date stone of 1690 it is for the reconstruction of the building. The brickwork is Flemish bond but there is English bond in the cellars and attics. Although its origins are eight hundred years ago, the current Hall is 17th. The cluster of oast houses beside it is niw housing. It was a Roman site and part of the current house dates back to the 12th rebuilt following a fire. It was the sub manor to Otford Palace and leased by Thomas Cromwell in 1529. Oliver Cromwell is reputed to have hidden 1000 men here during the Civil War. It became the home of the Colgate family and their home in America is also called ‘Filston’.
Moat. The half moat around the house is a traditional Kent feature and was regarded as a status symbol as well as a source of carp for the table and a rubbish dump. It is Grade 1 listed. Its moat appears to be a small scale defensive structure
Home farm a rectangular group of low buildings in red brick and tile, with a clock tower on the northern block. It is a livery stable and houses. It was originally a Victorian model farm on the Mildmay estate.
Otford Solar System. Pluto is on a pillar out in the fields west of where Twitton Brook joins the Darent ‘seppa’s ham’.
Sepham Farm. The name is Saxon – there is a Roman site here
Twitton Brook
Rises below Polhill and joins the Darent. Beyond the fishable section, a pipe at takes the flow through the left bank and across a field to become the Darent's moat at Filston Hall manor house.
Sources
Osborne. Defending London
The Darent continues northwards, joined by the Twitton Brook
Post to the north Shoreham
Post to the south Otford
Post to the east Shoreham
Post to the west Polhill
Filston Lane
Filston was a sub manor of Shoreham and was let in the 15th to Bishop, Richard Clerk. Part of the Canterbury demesne. The name has the suffix ‘ton’ meaning a settlement. It is ‘Viel’s’ farmstead – apparently a name of French origins
The Filston stream is almost certainly the natural river course, the channel from which it is piped being a millstream, or a canal. Beyond the 'Quadrangle' the stream, flowing deeply impounded between concrete banks and definitely canal-like, as it reaches the mill. The bridge here is basically a steel channel once conducting water from the higher level of the canal to irrigate the meadows.
Filston Hall. 17th moated house. The date stone of 1690 it is for the reconstruction of the building. The brickwork is Flemish bond but there is English bond in the cellars and attics. Although its origins are eight hundred years ago, the current Hall is 17th. The cluster of oast houses beside it is niw housing. It was a Roman site and part of the current house dates back to the 12th rebuilt following a fire. It was the sub manor to Otford Palace and leased by Thomas Cromwell in 1529. Oliver Cromwell is reputed to have hidden 1000 men here during the Civil War. It became the home of the Colgate family and their home in America is also called ‘Filston’.
Moat. The half moat around the house is a traditional Kent feature and was regarded as a status symbol as well as a source of carp for the table and a rubbish dump. It is Grade 1 listed. Its moat appears to be a small scale defensive structure
Home farm a rectangular group of low buildings in red brick and tile, with a clock tower on the northern block. It is a livery stable and houses. It was originally a Victorian model farm on the Mildmay estate.
Otford Solar System. Pluto is on a pillar out in the fields west of where Twitton Brook joins the Darent ‘seppa’s ham’.
Sepham Farm. The name is Saxon – there is a Roman site here
Twitton Brook
Rises below Polhill and joins the Darent. Beyond the fishable section, a pipe at takes the flow through the left bank and across a field to become the Darent's moat at Filston Hall manor house.
Sources
Osborne. Defending London
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