ECR 20

Reference code

ECR 20

Title

Baldwins, Newington and Flach Marsh, Kent

Level

Series

Administrative / Biographical history

The documents catalogued here relate to property in Kent which the college received in 1531 by a deed of exchange with the Crown. Had it retained the "64 acres upon the south side of the King's highway leading from Charing Cross to Aye Hill" (i.e. Hay Hill) and the 96 acres to the north of the said highway, the college would have been the owner of some of the most valuable land in London. The estates in Kent which the college received at the exchange consisted of the manor of Baldwins by Dartford, the rectory of Newington, and a marshland called the Flach in the parishes of Luddenham, Oare and Faversham. All the premises had formerly belonged to the abbey of Lesnes which had been suppressed in 1524 at the instance of Cardinal Wolsey who diverted the revenues to his newly founded college at Oxford.