Chapter 2 - The name of the Lodge - A Historical Retrospect

The name of the Lodge - A Historical Retrospect

The choice of the name De Shurland as the name of the Lodge was indeed a happy inspiration on the part of our founders, for there we have a name which revives memories of past glories and one which seems to breathe the very history and tradition of the Island. It is a name deeply respected through the ages, one which became nearly forgotten and then, by the imagination of our “Grand Originals” has been revived to shine again in Sheppey annals. De Shurland seems first to have come into prominence when Hoestan the Dane, after defeating a small fleet of Alfred the Great’s, landed in Sheppey with the men from his three hundred ships, sacked Minster Abbey and, to secure himself from reprisals, fortified the place which later became known as De Shurland, and built a powerful fort at Queenborough. His triumph was quite short-lived, for when he attempted an invasion of the mainland, our great Saxon King eventually defeated him, routing his forces and putting them to flight with great slaughter at the battle of Farnham. Hoestan was obliged to come to terms with Alfred, became a Christian and was allowed to retain possession of Sheppey, after which he seems to have settled to more peaceful ways. De Shurland Castle later became the family seat of one of William the Conqueror’s followers whose family name was De Shurland, the first of a long line of this family, whose services were constantly recognised by their sovereigns by appointment to various high offices. In AD 1225, for instance, Sir Geoffrey De Shurland was appointed High Constable of Dover Castle and Warden of the Cinque Ports, a very considerable distinction in those days. He was succeeded by his son Robert, probably even more distinguished and celebrated than his eminent father. It is Sir

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Robert De Shurland whom the Rev. Richard Barham, in his extraordinary and wonderful book, “The Ingoldsby Legends”, has immortalized in that amazing narrative of “Grey Dolphin: a Legend of Sheppey”. What a marvellous imagination the author must have had to conjure such a tale from the sight of a tombstone in Minster Abbey, bearing the knight’s effigy with a horse’s skull by its feet, which is even now to be seen in that ancient church.

Edward I came to the throne in AD 1272, and then Sir Robert, like his father, became Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, no doubt in recognition of his services in Sicily, where Edward himself had fought before his accession to the throne. Sir Robert also accompanied Edward on his Scottish campaigns. When Sir William Wallace, with 50,000 men, was routed at Falkirk, De Shurland himself and two other prominent Sheppey landowners were knighted during this campaign for their conduct at the siege of Caerlaverock Castle in AD 1300. On the death of Sir Robert, he was succeeded by his daughter Margaret, the family name being lost when she married Sir William Cheyne, De Shurland Manor becoming the home of this new family until the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

Proceeding onwards through the years, we find that it was mainly through the efforts of a Sir William Cheyne that land was made available for the rebuilding of All Saints’ Church at Eastchurch in 1431. In 1455 came the Wars of the Roses, that savage struggle which dealt the death blow to the Feudal System and led to the beginning of the modem era. In this year, Sir John Cheyne, who was then the occupant of De Shurland Hall, became Sheriff of Kent, and although not much more is heard of this worthy Sheppeyite, we find that, thirty years later, at the last battle of these wars, the battle of Bosworth, his son, John, who had by then succeeded him, was standard bearer to Henry Tudor, who became Henry VII after that

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battle. Naturally the eminent services of Sir John were gratefully rewarded for he became, in good time, a Knight of the Garter, Privy Councillor, Lord Chief Justice and, in 1487, a Baron of the realm. The next holder of the Cheyne name, Sir Thomas, also had a memorable, long and distinguished career, becoming a trusted and honoured servant of four English monarchs. Henry VIII, Edward VI, Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth 1, during which reigns he held various offices, such as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, Governor of Queenborough Castle, Sheriff of Kent, Governor of Rochester Castle and Treasurer of the Royal Household. He also fought against the French at the Battle of the Spurs. He was evidently a man who also had his eye to business for he received a royal licence to export from England no less than five hundred sacks of wool from his estates in Sheppey, this wool being shipped at Queenborough for a Flemish port. As can be expected from the high esteem in which their respective sovereigns held so many of Sheppey's notabilities, these monarchs paid frequent visits to the island, where they were richly entertained in this most pleasant part of the country, for it must be remembered that, at this time, the island was well-wooded and quite picturesque, being noted for its oaks and elms. Later, however, national emergencies which caused requirements for timber for the Navy and the Dockyard, led to a gradual denudation of the woods, so that now Sheppey is rather bare and in need of reforestation.

One of the most noted of these royal visits was made by Henry VIII at the time when he was contemplating divorcing his Spanish wife Catherine, and marrying Anne Boleyn, a relative of Sir Thomas Cheyne. The latter invited the King to honour his house by paying a visit and in October 1532 Henry, accompanied by Anne, after a reception at Queenborough Castle, which he had reached by boat from London, rode on to De Shurland Manor, where he was regally entertained for four days. Feasting, 9

coursing, hunting and indulging in general sports; the King spending from his privy purse on that occasion about £30, equivalent now to near £2000. No doubt his host spent a great deal more in order to make the visit a truly memorable one, and in order to enhance the prospects of his kinswoman, the Lady Anne. Shortly afterwards Catherine is divorced and the King married Anne Boleyn, who became the mother of that great Queen, Elizabeth, who succeeded in building so much of England’s fortunes during the Renaissance period. Sir Thomas Cheyne seems always to have been a champion of the King’s cause for he aided and abetted his royal master in his campaign against the Roman Catholic Church, assisting with all his power the King’s reformation measures. The dissolution of monasteries and other religious institutions followed, their wealth was seized, the buildings swept away and the occupants dispersed. Sir Thomas purchased the whole of the farm stock of St. Sexburga Abbey after its seizure by the crown for £198, and he also received from the King all the Abbey’s lands, windmill, sundry premises and other possessions as well as the lands and possessions of St. James Church, Warden. For helping in his land-grabbing and for his support of the King’s actions, Sir Thomas was made a Knight of the Garter. When he died in 1559 he had a wonderful record of adapting himself to all the contingencies and changes of the times, with an ease which almost outrivalled the deeds of that famous Vicar of Bray of later Stuart times, whose actions are chronicled in the well-known ballad.

Sir Thomas Cheyne’s son, Henry, was not of the same calibre as his father, nor does he seem to have had any fondness for Sheppey which he deserted for Tuddington Manor, where we read of him spending enormous sums on entertainment, Queen Elizabeth herself paying his mansion a visit. Consequently he soon found himself short of means; De 10

Shurland was sold, reverting to the crown, later to be granted to Sir Edward Hoby, and thus the Cheyne family finally severed all connection with Sheppey; one of the only local reminders of that name now existing being Cheyney Rock. In 1604 De Shurland Manor was provided by James I with a new owner, Sir Philip Herbert who was granted the title of Baron Herbert of Shurland. This new peer had a notable and successful career, being given several additional honours, and again the name of De Shurland was in the ascendant. It is interesting to note that Baron Philip was the last holder of the title of Constable of Queenborough Castle, which was destroyed after the Civil War. When Sir Philip succeeded his brother, the Earl of Pembroke, the Sheppey title became secondary to that more senior one. During the period of Cromwell’s dictatorship, De Shurland Hall, together with so many other ancient manors, was almost entirely destroyed and the owners of the dwellings dispossessed because of the support they had given to the Stuart cause. Thus the glory departed from Sheppey never to return except as a shadow of its former self. As was to be expected, at the Restoration, “when the king returned to his own again” in 1660, those who had suffered in the royal cause were re-instated by the grateful Charles II, but Sheppey lords did not generally continue to reside on the Island, although the new owner of De Shurland, the Hon. James Herbert, continued to live in what was left of that home and still maintained a great interest in the agricultural development of his estates. He even became a Member of Parliament for Queenborough, which in those days returned two members to our legislative assembly. When no further male members of the family were left, the property descended to two daughters of James Herbert and they ceased to reside at the Manor. They seem to have made no impact on the life of Sheppey. So the old Manor gradually fell into decay until only the gate house remained and the name, De Shurland, was barely remembered until revived by those pioneers of De Shurland Lodge,

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who must surely have been imbued with a genuine feeling for the fitness of using so typical a Sheppey title, and a real sense of local patriotism in choosing that name for their new lodge. De Shurland Hall made a further short incursion into the National History during the Second World War, when it became a Royal Observer Corps post which played its part in combating the air attacks launched by the enemy in this area.

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