29 OCTOBER 1892, Page 24

Boxley Parish. By J. Cave-Browne, M.A. (Dickinson, Maid- stone.)—Boxley is

a parish of nearly six thousand acres, near Maidstone, and Mr. Cave-Browne finds plenty of material in its history. It contains the famous Penenden Heath. Here Arch- bishop Lanfranc asserted the rights of his See against Odo of Bayeux, who had laid violent hands on some of its possessions during the vacancy caused by the deposition of Stigand (we see that Mr. Cave-Browne refers, without reserve, to the" Chronicles" of Ingulphus). Here, again, did Wat Tyler and Jack Cade make a rendezvous for their followers. Sir Thomas Wyatt, a local magnate, started from this point for his march on London. A Cistercian Abbey was founded in Boxley in 1146. Disendowed in 1536, it became notorious for the imposition of the Rood of Grace. Its rental was something less than .t 300 ; but it had been nearly twice as great. The church belongs to various periods, from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century. The incumbent from 1589 to 1632 was Thomas Case, a poet of some capacity, who adorned the Register with certain specimens of Latin verse. These are not quite correctly quoted ; indeed, Mr. Cave-Browne has not been sufficiently on his guard against the printer, either here or elsewhere. What can be meant by " interios Lares " ? In the Register we see the entry of a cen- tenarian :—" Dec. 18, 1759, Edward Roberts, 106 "—With this may be mentioned The Parish Church of Folkestone. By Matthew Woodward, M. A. (Skeffington and Son.)—It was in Folkestone that the first English Nunnery was founded ; its church, also, though not the present structure, dates back to a very remote antiquity. Mr. Woodward has written a readable book on the subject, giving a considerable proportion of his apace to a descrip- tion of the restored church. We may suggest to him that, in speaking of the consecration of Archbishop Parker, he does not

touch the real difficulty. The consecrators were competent, but the form was, so it is contended, insufficient There was not the necessary intention of consecrating to the episcopal office, and, indeed, it must be allowed that the form was very colourless.