Medieval manor site believed to lie under site of late 18thC house and manor house farm demolished in 1960s part of site presently occupied by council offices (with future redevelopment for housing possible). East part of house foundations probably destroyed during construction of offices. Parts of C18-19 foundation on W side revealed by excavation in 1991. These were shown to be set on earlier foundations of a medieval house. The area to the E of the house site formerly contained gardens. (1)

Excavation by Dartford Dist Arch Group in 1989 revealed C18-19 buildings behind offices with slight rems of (undated) earlier walls below. (2)

Swanscombe manor probably mentioned in Domesday and documented to C19, Red brick manor house sold in 1872. Suggested as site of Md manor (3)

The manor is first mentioned in the 11th century when in 1086 the estate was owned by the Montchenusie Family who also owned the nearby manor of Hartley. In the 13th century a descendant of the Montchenusie family, Joan, married the half brother of King Henry III, William De Valance and in 1265 they inherited the manor. Their daughter Dionisia married the son of the Earl of Oxford and inherited the manor. Upon her death it passed to Adomar De Valance, William and Joan’s son who went on to become the Earl of Pembroke but was murdered in 1324 and his co heirs were the sons of his two sisters John Hastings and John Comyn. On 1327 the lands passed to the crown once again and were bestowed on Edumnd Woodstock, Earl of Kent. It was not long however, before he fell from grace and was charged with treason against Edward III and was put to death in 1331 and Swanscombe Manor was reverted to Elizabeth Comyn and her husband Richard Talbot. After their deaths, Roger, Lord Mortimer was the lord of the manor and it stayed in their family until 1425 when his great grandson dies childless. The new occupant was Richard, Duke of York but after his rebellion against the crown the estate was once again confiscated by the King and granted to Sir Thomas Brown of Beechworth Castle in Surrey. During the reign of the first Yorkist King, Edward IV, the Duke of York regained possession of Swanscombe. The dukes widow, the kings mother, retained Swanscombe until her death in 1495. Later in the Tudor dynasty, Henry VIII made a gift of the manor to Jane Seymour and it reverted back to him upon her death. It was during the reign of Elizabeth I that the manor came back into local ownership, the Weldon family, they held the manor until 1782. It is around that time that part of the manor was pulled down, a 1872 auction pamphlet describes the land in good detail. It comprised an ‘old fashioned red brick manor house, well adapted as a residence for the owner of the estate. It was approached by a carriage drive from the village, from which it was well screened; adjoining are a stable and coach house premises and a substantially built homestead.’ Total acreage of the lands in this auction document was 718 acres comprising 53 acres of saltings, 150 acres of woodland, a chalk quarry, fam lands and domestic gardens. It was bought by Thomas Bevan of Stone Park. (4)

<1> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 1991 Dec, Evaluation Excavation at Swanscombe Manor House, Canterbury Arch. Trust 1991 'Excavations at Swanscombe Manor' (Unpublished document). SWX6762.

<2> Not applicable, SMR Kent uncatalogued index entry, KAS Newsletter No. 16 Summer 1990 (Miscellaneous Material). SKE6440.

<3> Not applicable, SMR Kent uncatalogued index entry, Dartford Dist Arch Group newsletter Winter 1988 (Miscellaneous Material). SKE6440.

<4> Dartford District Archaeological Group, No Date, Swanscombe Manor, Dartford District Arch Group (Unpublished document). SWX12878.