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Maidstone Mote House
Also known as, or recorded in historical
documents as; Maydenstan; Shoford Maideston
In the civil parish of Maidstone.
In the historic county of Kent (Modern Authority of Kent, 1974 county of Kent).
Leland c1540 mentions a castle in good repair, but this most probably refers to the Archbishop's palace (qv). Mote House is a Country house built near the site of C14 castellated manor house which was demolished circa 1800. There are no remains at Mote Park other than the listed C19 house. Is this the site of house of Walter Maydenstan granted a licence to crenellate in 1310 and/or 'Shoford', granted a licence, to William Topclyve, in 1382, after it had been leveled by insurgents. Coulson writes, of the 1382 licence, "William's involvement with the sheriff and the cathedral probably explains why his house was the target of popular vindictiveness. When it was all over he may, of course, have felt that a substantial stone-built, crenellated new house (perhaps with parapets to protect the roof) would reduce the risk of arson and afford him more security in the future. But such dwellings were frequently (in fact, normally) built without any licence to crenellate. Without doubt, the function of the licence to William was to reaffirm his status and his association with the great. It was an emphatic and demonstrative response to the menu peuple who had dared to resent and attack his standing."
This site has been described as a;
Fortified Manor House.
The confidence
that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Possible.
Nothing visible remains.
A Royal licence
to crenellate was
granted in 1310 July 16.
A Royal licence
to crenellate was
granted in 1382 June 18.
This site is a
Grade 2* listed
building protected by law*. (Images
of England number 173446)
The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TQ78135497
PastScape number;
415708
Books
- Salter, Mike, 2000, The Castles of Kent (Malvern) p56
Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p406
Journal Articles
- Coulson, C., 1982, 'Hierarchism in Conventual Crenellation: An Essay in the Sociology and Metaphysics of Medieval Fortification' Medieval Archaeology Vol26 p85-6
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents
- This section is far from complete and the secondary
sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Calendar of Patent Rolls (1307-13) p271
Calendar of Patent Rolls (1381-85) p132
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p250
Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol4 p47
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*The listed building
may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site
of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.
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