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Hartley Manor

Hartley Manor is really a misnomer, as Hartley Court is the ancient manor house.  It  was so named by the then Lord of the Manor, Col Evelyn in about 1872.  Before that it  was called Hartley Wood Farm.  Its ownership has been very stable - for most of its  recorded history just three families have owned the freehold.

Originally the house was called "Daltons", no doubt after the family of that name, who  lived in the village in the 14th and 15th centuries.  A Warin Dalton received 'first tonsure'  at Hartley Church in 1345 - this was the lowest of the Medieval holy orders and the only  one which still allowed you to marry.  Another Warin must have made himself unpopular  as Hartley's collector of the Poll Tax in 1377.  Thereafter the picture is unclear until the  16th century, when it was owned by William White.  In 1554 he leased Daltons to John  Gardner; it was in that year that the "battle" of Hartley occurred in the woods by Hartley  Manor, where rebels of Wyatt's rebellion were pursued to after the battle of Wrotham.  John died in 1559 and his widow Joan married William Middleton of Nursted, beginning  that family's connection with the farm.  A year later they were evicted by Mr White, a  "man given to make trouble and unquietness", so it was alleged in the Chancery Court.   William Middleton sued for the value of the crops he had already planted.  This case is  an important one for the history of farming in the parish, for Mr Middleton said he had  60 of the farm's 100 acres devoted to arable (wheat, barley, oats, beans, peas and  tares).  We don't know whether the allegations against Mr White are true, but a year  later his wife Elizabeth was summoned to appear at the Kent Assizes.

In 1571 Mr White sold Daltons to Thomas Walter of Pennis Place, Fawkham.  Thomas  partitioned the estate in 1590 between his sons, with this farm going to his second son,  Thomas junior.  He died before his father in 1601, so when Thomas senior followed him  into Fawkham Churchyard in 1608, he was once again the owner of Daltons, which was  estimated by a local jury to have a net annual worth of £8.  Thomas senior's other son John is remembered for his coats and gowns charity, and is commemorated by the fine  wall monument in Fawkham Church.  The long list of bequests in the will of his wife  Dorcas (1630) shows a very well to do family.  As well as substantial amounts of  furniture an bedding, she also mentions silver and a necklace of pearl and jet.  Dorcas  also owned a watch and "a fair map in a frame" - both luxury items owned by a very few  in her day.

As John and Dorcas had no children, it is probable that it was about then when Daltons was sold to one John Hickmott of London (d 1665), who was certainly the owner by 1634.  He was a substantial landowner with properties in several of the home counties.  His wife Joan, who died in 1673, survived both him and their five children, so Daltons  descended to their nephew Edward Potter of Oxford. In his will of 1702 he stated "the  reason why I am not more liberal unto my daughter Elizabeth, is for that I have lately  married her unto Mr Eggerton and did then give with her a considerable fortune".  This  considerable fortune included Hartley Manor Farm.  For most, if not all of this time, the  Middletons were the tenants.  The probate inventory of Henry Middleton (d 1666)  reveals a substantial yeoman farmer.  He had planted 51 acres of wheat and 69 acres  of other arable crops, as well as 76 sheep, 10 pigs, 4 cows and 10 horses, as well as wagons, ploughs etc.

Ralph Egerton sold the farm to William Lethieullier of Beckenham in 1726.  It was now  called Hartley Wood Farm, and with the new name came a new tenant - Robert Batt of  Longfield.  According to Hasted, the Lethieulliers were Huguenots - Protestants fleeing  religious persecution in France.  A people legendary for their talent, the Lethieulliers  were just one Huguenot family of many that prospered in their new country. William left  the farm to his youngest son Samuel in 1736.  His widow Sarah (d 1779), who had  remarried Stephen Holland, left it to Dr John Clark, who in turn left it in 1796 to his  niece Mrs Sauxy.  Different tenants came and went, the newlyweds Thomas and  Rachel Fielder moved here from Horton Kirby took up the tenancy in 1748.  They were  followed by William Loft, Thomas Edmeads and William Bensted senior.

Eventually Hartley Wood Farm was bought by the owner of Hartley Court William  Bensted junior.  Then the farm consisted of two cottages and a farmyard, William  converted them into one and both he and his son William lived there.  The building was  further improved by Col G P Evelyn when he came here in 1872.  At the turn of the  century Hartley Manor had become a very substantial 10 bedroomed mansion with all  mod-cons such as hot and cold running water, radiators and electric light.  All this and  the 8 acres of kitchen garden etc. were leased for an annual rent of £115 in 1906!  They  were one of the first residential properties to get a telephone, being the 12th subscriber  to the Longfield exchange in about 1920.  To emphasise the new status as a  gentleman's residence the field at the back of the house had become parkland.  This is  the field crossed by the footpaths from Manor Drive to Hartley Wood, and still retains  much of its former appearance.  It is interesting to note in the light of the current  controversy over "rights to roam" that when the Valuation Office valued the land in  1910, they knocked £100 off the £800 site value of the 34 acre farm holding, because  the footpaths crossed the land.

Like most properties in the village, Hartley Manor was bought by Smallowners Ltd,  In 1936 Miss Jane Foote Maxton was the owner, presumably she was related to the  company secretary of Smallowners, one Mr J F Maxton.  At the time of the national  farm survey of 1941, she had sold 20 acres to Barry Richards (who lived at Hartley  Manor), and 100 acres to Derek Dallen, Mr Dallen kept a large dairy herd and  employed several land girls in the war, some of whom were pictured in a feature in the  Dartford Reporter.  The Ministry of Agriculture inspector, however, thought that Kent  War Agricultural Executive Committee should take some action over the management  of the farm.  

Now the house is in private ownership, while most of the farm land has become part of Hartley Bottom Farm.