Kingston

25 KINGSTON

(O.S. 6 ins. ^aTL 35 N.W., ^bTL 35 N.E., ^cTL 35 S.W., ^dTL 35 S.E.)

The village of Kingston, 1½ m. E.S.E. of Bourn, occupies a low spur at the N. end of the parish between two streams flowing N.E. into the Bourn Brook. The church and a few adjacent buildings, including the Old Rectory (Monument (3), an important survival), lie on a small patch of gravel. The rest of the village, and most of the parish, except for some gault along the E. boundary, is on boulder clay.

A rectangular green of about 10 acres, some 200 yds. S. of the church, with roads leading into its corners must once have been a striking feature. It is clearly reflected on the enclosure map of 1815 (C.R.O.), when waste segments at the sides, formed by traffic passing through, were allotted and subsequently built on. Today hardly any of the green is left.

The parish of 1907 acres varies from about 80 ft. above O.D. in the N. along the Bourn Brook to over 250 ft. in the S. where the Mare Way divides Kingston from Wimpole. Another old road called Porters' Way forms the W. boundary, and part of the E. boundary follows Armshold Lane.

Kingston, as the name implies, was royal demesne at an early period, and one of the principal manors was still so at the Conquest. A moated site with the late mediaeval house now known as Kingston Wood Farm (Monuments (12) and 17)) was equated by the Lysons, but perhaps not correctly, with this manor. The farm itself seems never to have formed part of the open fields (see Monument (20)).

Ecclesiastical

^a(1) Parish Church of All Saints and St. Andrew, at the N. end of the village, stands in a rectangular raised churchyard bounded by low walls on the S. and W. and consists of a Chancel, clearstoreyed Nave with Aisles, and West Tower. Much of the walling is plastered inside and out; where exposed it is of field stones; the roofs are tiled.

An entry on p. 27 of Bishop Alcock's register (C.U.L.) records the granting by him in 1488 of an indulgence 'ad reparacionem ecclesie parochialis de Kyngyston sue diocesis que ex eventu quodam inopinabili videlicet per incendium funditus exstitit destructa et ad fabricam campanilis ejusdem quod similimodo nuperrime ventorum impetu cecidit'. The church was evidently rebuilt on the old lines at this time, a considerable amount of older work being retained or reset in the chancel and aisles. The E. wall of the tower also seems to have survived, while fire damage to the S. porch and subsequent repair are apparent. There were restorations in 1894–5 and 1930.

Architectural Description—The Chancel (29¼ ft. by 15¾ ft.) has plastered walls of varying thickness with features predominantly of the 13th and 14th centuries some of which may have been restored or reset in the years after 1488. The E. wall has a 16th- or 17th-century rectangular window of five three-centred lights with sunk spandrels, set in the blocking of a larger probably 13th-century window, the splays and chamfered rear arch of which are exposed internally. At either corner is a single-stage angle buttress. The N. wall has in the E. half a blocked 13th-century lancet, rebated for a shutter, which is not visible internally; its splays were probably removed when the later arched recess was inserted on the inside. The W. half is occupied by a recess, probably of 13th-century origin, with stone bench and head of two chamfered arches meeting in a central corbel; beneath the W. arch and perhaps coeval with it is a blocked transomed and trefoil-headed 'low-side' window. In the middle of the wall is a blocked doorway, with continuous chamfered jambs and head, which at one time led into a N. annexe. The S. wall has at the E. end a 13th-century window of three graduated uncusped lights in a round head with later wave-moulded rear arch; a second window is modern save for the rear arch and E. splay which is continued down to form the E. splay of a doorway with continuous chamfered jambs and head; a third, 'low-side', window, early 14th-century of two transomed and trefoiled lights, with moulded jambs, is blocked below the transom. The W. half of the S. wall has had a benched recess similar to that on the N. side, but the two arches of the head have been partly displaced by the rear arches of the second and third windows. The chancel arch is of two orders chamfered to the E. and wave-moulded to the W., the outer continuous, the inner carried on attached shafts with moulded caps and bases.

The Nave (44¼ ft. by 15½ ft., Plate 97) has arcades of four arches, each similar to the chancel arch but moulded on both sides. Arcades and chancel arch are presumably post 1488, but may reproduce work contemporary with the N. aisle windows described below. The clearstorey has four windows on either side, each of two cinque-foiled lights with pierced spandrels; there are suggestions of a blocked E. light above the chancel arch.

The North Aisle (8¾ ft. wide) has a modern E. window similar to those in the E. and S. walls of the S. aisle. In the N. wall are three late 14th- or 15th-century windows, reset and restored, each of two cinque-foiled lights with a quatrefoil in the head flanked by vertical bars. Between the second and third window is a doorway the jambs of which are worked with a broad chamfer which passes into two chamfered orders in the head. The W. wall is now blind but retains a lancet, the N. jamb of which has been obliterated by blocking on the outer face; the splays and springers of the rear arch are exposed inside but the head has been built up. Above and somewhat N. of this lancet, visible only externally, is a blocked bull's eye, probably mediaeval but not closely datable.

The South Aisle (9¼ ft. wide) was partly rebuilt in 1894–5, but some old walling, probably 13th-century, survives. The E. window and three others in the long wall are each of three graduated cinque-foiled lights in a four-centred head. They and the W. window, of 14th-century character, together with the S. doorway of two continuous moulded orders, are almost entirely modern.

The unbuttressed S. porch is of 13th- or early 14th-century origin and has two small two-light rectangular windows, both discoloured by burning; the lower quoins and rubble walling are also affected; the entrance arch of two continuous chamfered orders is heavily restored.

The unbuttressed West Tower (10¼ ft. N. to S. by 10 ft.), rebuilt and furnished with a stair turret after 1488, incorporates most of the E. wall and perhaps part of the N. wall of its predecessor. It is divided into three stages by moulded string-courses and has an embattled parapet with gargoyles to the N. and S. The late 15th-century W. window of three graduated cinque-foiled lights in a four-centred head is much restored. S. of it is a small cinquefoil-headed niche with miniature vaulted canopy and square moulded label; a similar niche to the N. of the window is modern. The belfry has restored windows in the N., S. and W. faces, each of two trefoiled lights with quatrefoils in the head; to the E. is a restored quatrefoil. The tower arch, which looks 14th-century, is of three orders to the E., the two outer chamfered and the inmost moulded with a double wave; on the W. the outer order is omitted and the middle one dies into the side walls. At the E. end of the S. wall is a doorway blocked on the outer face in 1894–5; only the splays and rear arch survive. A square-headed door opposite gives access to the added stair turret, the top of which has been rebuilt. The entry from the stair into the ringing chamber has been crudely contrived by cutting through the old N.E. corner. Above the tower arch, visible from the nave, is a blocked opening only the S. splay of which remains inside the ringing chamber; above it a ragged offset indicates that the top stage of the tower has been entirely rebuilt; remains of a weathercourse N. of the blocked opening indicate the line of an earlier and steeper nave roof.

The Roof of the chancel is in four bays and is ceiled below the common rafters, but the principals with solid moulded arch braces and the purlins are exposed. The nave roof, likewise in four bays and ceiled below the common rafters, has chamfered tie beams with moulded principal and intermediate rafters and moulded purlins; wall posts rise off defaced stone corbels. The lean-to roof of the N. aisle has moulded rafters and purlins. All three are late mediaeval. The roof of the S. aisle resembles that of the N. aisle but is largely modern.

Fittings—Bells: three; 1st by Thomas Newman, 1722, recast 1930; 2nd with initial cross and inscribed in Lombardic capitals 'ave ⋮ maria', 14th-century; 3rd by Joseph Eayre, 17(?6)7. Bell frame: old. Chest: iron-bound, rectangular with chains at either end for lifting, considerably decayed, perhaps 17th-century. Doors : to N. aisle, of nail-studded planks on lattice framing; and to S. aisle, similar but with later framing; both mediaeval, restored. Font (Plate 5); plain octagonal bowl, perhaps 13th-century; the 14th-century octagonal foot is of the same diameter and has attached shafts with moulded caps and bases rising to crocketed gables. Glass: fragments in E. window include quarries and roundels, one with a white hart sejant, 15th- and 16th-century. Monuments and Floor slabs. Monuments :: in chancel—at E. end of S. wall, of Dr. Fogge Newton, Provost of King's and Rector, 1612, tablet with inscription in Latin iambics flanked by small Corinthian columns supporting an entablature; above is an elaborate strapwork overpiece with two shields of arms the lower of which is flanked by terminal figurines; a third shield is set in a strapwork apron; all of clunch, originally painted, but the blazon of the shields is now uncertain; see Floor slabs (1) below. Headstones S. of the nave include one of c. 1700, shaped and carved, indecipherable; also a few others, 18th-century. Floor slabs: in chancel—(1) of Dr. Newton, see Monuments above; (2) of Simon Sayon, Rector, 1688, with achievement of arms; (3) of Francis Todd, 1703, Jane his first wife, 1661, Theodosia (Nightingale) his second wife, 1698, and Francis his son by Theodosia, 1669, with achievement of arms; (4) of Rev. John Lee, Rector, 1778.

Paintings: Much of the interior wall surface, except in the tower, retains painting of the 13th to the 16th or early 17th centuries, some of which was restored by E. W. Tristram in 1928 (H. H. Brindley, 'The Mural Paintings in Kingston Church, Cambridgeshire', C.A.S. Procs. XXXI (1931), 146– 149). The following account is based on his identifications. In chancel—on E. wall (1) roundel in red ochre, disfigured, perhaps a consecration cross; on N. wall, above N. doorway (2) two foot soldiers (Plate 105) in mail armour facing to the E. with lances at the ready, perhaps a fragment of a Psychomachia; also on N. wall, one above and to the E. of the foregoing, the other to the W. above and between the arches of the bench recess (3) two fragments of foliage arabesque; on S. wall between 2nd and 3rd windows (4) standing figure in long robe, incomplete and indistinct; above and to the W. (5) further fragments of foliage arabesque; all probably 13th-century, but the arabesque items may be somewhat earlier than the figures. In nave—above chancel arch (6) against a red background, a crucifix in silhouette with a kneeling angel either side holding a cup; beyond them are two standing figures also in silhouette no doubt intended for the Virgin and St. John, and four more kneeling angels, two above censing, two below playing instruments; beneath the standing silhouettes are remains of clunch corbels indicating that the crucifix and the two figures were images in the round, the crucifix probably suspended; beneath them are remains of a black-letter inscription '(Lo)rde Jesus'; late 15th-century; above nave arches (7) rectangular panels framed in strapwork with black-letter texts, not read; at the apices, related strapwork ornaments; late 16th- or early 17th-century. In N. aisle—on N. wall, towards E. end (8) figure subject, indistinct and not identified; between first two windows (9) lower part of a St. Christopher; further W. (10) further figure subjects, not identified; on W. wall (11) naked demon with horns, bat wings, tail and genital mask, and portions of a (tree?) (Plate 105), symbolising the Seven Deadly Sins; above a wheel, perhaps symbolising the Seven Acts of Mercy, (propelled by?) an angel; in S. aisle—on soffit of rear arch of first window in long wall, (12) pattern made up of geometrical and foliated elements; all the items in the aisles are probably late 15th-century.

Piscina: in chancel, in E. splay of 1st window on S. side, with continuous roll-moulded jambs and trefoil head, and quatrefoil drain, 13th-century. Plate : includes an inscribed cup, unmarked, and a paten by Thomas Buttell, both c. 1570. Pulpit: of seven sides, profusely enriched with gouged ornament, each divided into two heights with long round-arched panel below, smaller panel and frieze above; 1st half of 17th century. Scratchings: include a roughly drawn shield of arms on the middle pier of the N. arcade, and two others on the N. respond of the tower arch; two more, on the jambs of the doorway to the stair turret, are perhaps intended for Lisle and Vere. Screen: in three bays, the middle bay open and having a head of pierced fretwork inserted in the 17th century; side bays in two heights, the lower solid, the upper in four lights with vertical tracery and pierced spandrels below the beam; main posts worked with attached shafts on the W.; 15th-century. Sundials: two, on either jamb of the S. doorway to chancel. Miscellaneous : towards E. end of N. wall of chancel, small recess behind three miniature moulded and trefoiled arches with panelled spandrels (Plate 7); 14th-century.

^a(2) Congregational Chapel, framed and plastered, with half-hipped thatched roof, divided into three bays by tie beams and open to the collars; perhaps late 18th-century.

Secular

^a(3) The Old Rectory, a two-storeyed T-shaped mediaeval house immediately E. of the church, has outside walls partly of fieldstones and clunch with clunch dressings and partly of framing; certain additions and replacements are in brick. The main, E. and W., range incorporates a timber aisled hall (Class A) with stone outer walls of the 13th or early 14th century. This, to judge from a trial probe, was erected on the gravel subsoil without ground sills or footings. On the W. is an early to mid 14th-century cross wing, at the N. end of which are two slightly later blocks, the E. block being the stair, while the W. block was probably the garderobe. The cross wing was reduced in length to the S., an upper floor was inserted into the hall and various other alterations made in the late 16th or early 17th century, perhaps in the time of Dr. Fogge Newton, Rector, and Provost of King's College (d. 1612).

The house, which ceased to be a rectory in 1931, was presumably conveyed to King's with the advowson in 1457. This last had changed hands many times during the preceding century; in or about 1353 it had belonged to Robert Mortimer, who inherited it from Thomas and Agnes de Gyssyng (King's College Muniments, 2Aa. 1–26).

The vestiges in the main range indicate a hall divided by two tie-beam trusses into two and a half bays, the half bay being on the E. The plastered S. front incorporates the S. arcade, the wall being made out with later framing. The S. aisle no longer exists but the aisle roof, which was evidently thatched, and the upper part of the long wall are clearly reflected on the outer face of the E. wall of the cross wing (Plate 101). The site of the N. aisle is occupied by comparatively modern outshuts, but a length of wall with buttress, rebuilt in brick and reused clunch, stands for the E. half of the original long wall. Surviving mediaeval timbers, examined in the course of recent renovations, include: (a) the upper part of the first S. arcade post, octagonal or chamfered square with a moulded cap; also the springing of the W. brace; the post is morticed for a subsidiary member spanning the aisle; (b) corresponding tie beam and principals; the tie beam stop-chamfered between curved braces, one of which survives in part, notched for raking struts on one side and morticed for a crown or king post; the principals halved for collars and notched for raking struts; (c) the capital of the second S. arcade post, of different design from the first and enriched with crude gouged work, with the springing of its E. brace; (d) corresponding tie beam and principals; the tie beam notched both sides for raking struts, morticed above for crown or king post and below for full arch braces; the principals halved for collars and notched for raking struts; (e) and (f) pairs of rafters, one in each full bay, halved for collars; (g) part of N. arcade plate with mortice for W. brace from second post. These and certain reused timbers are generally smoke-blackened.

The cross wing with its N. appendages is stone-built except for the S. wall which is of 16th- or 17th-century framing, now rough-cast. Its E. wall (Plate 101) was formerly the gabled W. wall of the hall, heightened when the cross wing was built. A doorway, presumably coeval with the cross wing, leading out of the N. aisle, evidently had continuous chamfered jambs and pointed head, but the N. jamb has been removed to widen the opening and a wooden lintel inserted. The W. wall (Plate 101) has a projecting chimney of clunch rubble with stack rebuilt in brick; it does not look earlier than 16th-century, but may at least be on the site of a corresponding 14th-century feature. There are four original windows, or traces of them, one on either floor to N. and S. of the chimney, where visible with clunch splays and wooden rear lintels. That to the S. on the upper floor is well preserved and is in two chamfered orders with pointed trefoiled head; it is grooved for glass. Internally the ground floor of the cross wing is divided by original stop-chamfered cross beams into three bays; there is some old red paint on these beams.

The garderobe and stair blocks, both probably rebuilt soon after the completion of the cross wing, were amalgamated in the 16th century or later. The rebuilding may have been necessitated by failure of the original N. end wall of the wing; a pit in the N.W. corner, recently discovered, may be explicable as an earlier internal or semi-internal latrine. The newel stair is of clunch and must have been designed for a part circular turret; the treads end on the original circumference and are discoloured where they were bedded in the original turret wall; they are now made out with added material and rest on a bed of inserted rubble. Entry to the stair was from the N. aisle through a small arch, only the W. springer of which survives. The rebuilt stair house is rectangular with a small reset window to the E. divided into two elaborately cusped lights by a transom; a second and larger window, also probably reset, is divided into three rectangular lights by heavy chamfered mullions is in the N. wall at a higher level. A pointed N. and S. arch springs off the N. wall next the E. splay of this window and off a clunch pier built up on the truncated newel. A similar E. and W. arch is at the stair head. The garderobe block has a small rectangular window with chamfered reveal to the W. on the ground floor; the short link wall connecting the two blocks on the N. has a similar window, reset and flanked internally by triangular-headed recesses. In the N.W. corner of the bedroom to the S. are some clunch dressings which appear to be the W. jamb of a doorway into the garderobe from the adjoining chamber; the wall is otherwise a comparatively late rebuilding.

The otherwise post-mediaeval roof of the cross wing incorporates a truss immediately N. of the chimney (Plate 103) consisting of a steeply cambered tie beam with short braces of full scantling to wall posts, and octagonal crown post with moulded cap, base stops, and braces to a collar; there are mortices from the post for axial bracing, but the collar purlin has been cut away either side of the post. Some of these timbers show traces of red paint.

Post-mediaeval detail in the house is of subsidiary interest. The late 16th- or early 17th-century framing of the S. wall of the cross wing includes corner posts with enlarged heads; two blocked three-light windows with ovolo-moulded mullions have been found on the ground floor. The main range has an internal chimney inserted in the late 16th or early 17th century; the corresponding clunch fireplace surround in the W. ground-floor room has rectangular outer and depressed four-centred inner head, recently restored. A tie beam at eaves level at the E. end of the main range is probably of the same time.

^a(4) Queen's College Farm, standing on a moated site (Monument (19)), is of two storeys, framed and plastered, with some brick underbuilding, and has tiled roofs. The main range has been an open hall, so that the house, which is late mediaeval, would appear to have belonged to Class B; but the E. cross wing is modern. A chimney and ceiling were inserted in the hall perhaps in 1666; a barely legible date on the S. face of the inserted stack has been so read.

The original hall roof is divided by a primary and a secondary truss into one larger E. bay and two smaller and equal W. bays. The primary truss consists of a chamfered tie beam with chamfered arch braces of full length from wall posts, and collar; purlins and wind braces are housed into the primary rafters. The secondary truss has no tie beam. Mortices in the wall plate a few feet from the ends are for horizontal timbers of uncertain purpose; cuttings in the plate may indicate windows which would seem to have been of ample dimensions.

The W., solar, cross wing is divided on the ground floor into two bays by a cross beam moulded with an ogee and a hollow, unstopped; corresponding joists are ogee-moulded. A short distance from the N. end is a second moulded cross beam, reset, possibly from the upper floor, with moulded arch braces springing off the moulded caps of octagonal shafts worked on the supporting posts. In the N. gable are traces of an original window. The roof of the cross wing, of collar-purlin type, is original, but the tie beam is a replacement; it retains traces of red pigment.

The inserted 17th-century ceiling in the main range is divided into four bays by intersecting chamfered beams, but most of the E., secondary, axial beam has been cut away. The stops of the chamfered fireplace bressummer are notched.

^a(5) House, on edge of former green, two-storeyed, framed and plastered, with tiled and thatched roofs, consisting of a single E. and W. range made up of two units, 15th- or early 16th-century. The three-bay E. unit was originally an open hall; the W. unit, also of three bays, was a solar. A third unit on the E., demolished earlier in the present century, was presumably the service part, or a replacement on the site of it. The house thus started as a conventional hall house, except for the placings of the wings in line with the main axis instead of across it.

The hall had an upper floor and a brick chimney inserted in the 17th century, but absence of smoke blackening in the hall roof and the venerable appearance of the ground-floor fireplace bressummer with its wide stopped chamfer may suggest the preexistence of a primitive framed chimney or hood on the site. The floor has been removed from the W. bay of the solar at some time and it is now open; the roof timbers, consisting of rafters with collars and collar purlins, are darkened by smoke.

The walls of the hall have been partly rebuilt in brick and are plastered inside and out. Blocked doors at either end of the screens passage survive, and there are indications of a third door, possibly original, at the W. end above the later fireplace on the ground floor of the solar. On the N. upper floor, above and somewhat W. of the screens, are remains of a small window divided into two lights by a diamond mullion. The hall roof is in three bays and was supported by tie-beam trusses which have been mutilated; that between the first and second bay, partly built into the inserted chimney, has a moulded tie beam, stopped some distance from the ends; shallow mortices in the adjoining unmoulded faces may be for fitting a cornice at the wall head; the primary rafters, collar and connecting braces are also moulded. The other open truss has had the tie beam cut away, except for stubs at the ends, but was probably similar. The closing trusses are more simply treated, the tie beams being unmoulded. The purlins and wind braces where visible are chamfered.

The W., solar, wing is built up against the hall and is slightly narrower than it. The first two bays form a single room on either floor, that below having a quadripartite ceiling formed by a chamfered primary cross beam and stop-chamfered axial secondaries, the former rising off richly moulded intermediate brackets worked on the mainposts. The upper room has closing trusses of crown-post type but only the tie beams and some crown-post bracing are visible. The middle truss has a low collar in place of a tie beam, to give head room; a short crown post can be inferred.

The end bay of the solar is now open to the roof and the timbers are completely exposed inside. The framing is downbraced and includes swell-head posts and intermediate rail. A blocked window divided into four lights by diamond mullions remains in the upper part of the N. wall at the W. end. Symmetrically placed doorways now blocked remain at either end of the party wall on the ground floor, and there are remains of a third door at first-floor level, all original.

^c(6) Pigeon House, 17th- or 18th-century, converted to a two-storey house, framed and plastered, with hipped tiled roof rising to gablets.

^a(7) Town Farm, at S. corner of former green, consists of an 18th-century Class-J house of two storeys and attic built in red brick with a platband; the roof is tiled. Incorporated at the rear are parts of a 17th-century framed house of two storeys. The fenestration is modern. Inside are a few original features including a fireplace surround with side pilasters, frieze enriched with paterae and central panel with a somewhat larger patera and a swag. At the rear of the main range is a shuttered hatch into the yard, perhaps for dispensing commons or wages.

^a(8) House, now divided, L-shaped, framed and plastered, with thatched and tiled roofs, consists of an E. and W. range along the street of one storey and attic, half-hipped to the W., with two-storeyed E. cross wing gabled to the S. The building is sub-mediaeval and of uncertain date, the middle part of the main range having probably been open to the roof. A floor carried on a reused beam and a chimney, to which a bread oven was later added, have been inserted. A small service room at the W. end was later enlarged at the expense of the 'hall'.

The cross wing has on the ground floor a S. and smaller N. room with stopped axial beams, respectively moulded and chamfered. The short original axial beam at the service end is also stop-chamfered. Little of the roof is exposed.

^a(9) House, L-shaped, consisting of two elements; an E. and W. main range, of two storeys with attics, facing the former green; and a shorter and lower two-storeyed wing at right angles. The main range probably originated as a 17th-century Class-J framed house, but was cased inside and out and heightened in the early 18th century, all in red brick. The front door is set in a shallow projection opposite the internal chimney; this projection is required to provide a passage between the rooms on either side of the chimney, which would otherwise have been obstructed by the internal casing. The wing is of the 16th or earlier 17th century and was originally jettied at the S. end and along the W. side but the jetties have been under-built in red brick.

A number of structural timbers are exposed inside, including the dragon beam to the S.W. corner. Reused material includes a 17th-century door divided into six panels by applied muntins and rails.

^a(10) House (Class K), of two storeys and attics, framed and plastered, with half-hipped thatched roof; probably late 17th-century, but modernised and extended. Some doors with linenfold and other panelling are made up.

^a(11) Pigeon House, 17th- or 18th-century, converted to a dwelling of two storeys and attic, framed and plastered, with hipped tiled roof rising to gablets.

^c(12) Kingston Wood Farm (Class B; N.G. TL 328540), standing on a moated site (Monument (17)) in the S.W. of the parish, is of the early 16th century, but was modified and enlarged piecemeal during the next hundred years. The structure, predominantly of two storeys with attics, is now mostly brick with tiled roofs and consists of a main range fronting W. of S. with a kitchen block and other subsidiary parts on the N.

Originally the house, which was that of one of the two principal manors in the village, was of mixed construction, with some ground-floor and certain other walls of brick or rubble and the remainder framed. The plan resembles, although on a small scale, that of Madingley Hall (Madingley (2)) when first built, but subsequent alterations to the interior has obliterated evidence to show the original form of the hall. An estate map of 1720 (C.R.O., Plate 29), made about the time the manor passed to Lord Oxford, depicts the house from the S. with symmetrical projections of full height which were presumably a porch and an oriel. These seem to have been removed, presumably by Lord Oxford, soon after the map was made. The front was then re-roofed and almost completely refaced and a number of other changes made.

The S. front is in five unequal bays, symmetrical except for the entrance which is still on the line of the screens passage in the fourth bay. The brickwork is relieved by a platband and the hipped roof has coved eaves. The windows are sashes, three being set in pedimented dormers. The entrance doorway (Plate 9) is original, with elaborately moulded jambs of stuccoed brick and continuous four-centred head; an inner and an outer square label form two spandrels framing blank shields; above is an 18th-century cornice enriched with acanthus. The door, of twice four linenfold panels, is also original. Straight joints flanking the doorway reflect one of the vanished projections and between them a little old diapered brickwork survives. The E. end (Plate 100) is mostly of 18th-century brick on the ground floor, but there is some fieldstone walling, possibly original; on the first floor the wall is in closely spaced vertical framing, the top rail being pegged for a former gable, while absence of pegging on the lower edge of the bottom rail is conclusive evidence of mixed construction. Existing openings are 18th-century or later. The N. extremity of the wall contains the side of a garderobe flanking the solar chimney, also in vertical framing above, with old diapered brickwork below. The solar chimney has been largely rebuilt; lapping it is a small wing, somewhat lower than the main range, which may be of 16th- or early 17th-century origin. Immediately W. of this wing is the external chimney of the hall, probably original, though part of the stack has been rebuilt.

The W. half of the N. side is occupied by the square kitchen block, which would appear to have grown up by stages. It is made up of two parallel N. and S. ranges, that on the E. being the narrower, but is roofed as a whole in two equal spans with gables to the N. The construction was at one time mixed, like that of the main range, but there has been much patching and casing. The lower part of the N. wall is uniform and has a continuous plinth with chamfered offset. On the ground floor are two stone windows divided into two and three lights by ovolo-moulded mullions; above the first is another, of four lights. The E. wall of the block, some of which is diapered, has on the ground floor a comparatively early 16th-century window of stuccoed stone or brick, of two round-headed lights in a square outer head. This window and a mutilated doorway to the S., now internal, with four-centred head, appear to be inside out—as if the wall of which they are features had been built for a wing on the N. side of the hall. On the W. in the upper floor is a four-light wooden window with roll-moulded mullions of the 16th century.

Inside, the door from the screens into the service end has moulded jambs on a high chamfered base rising to a four-centred inner and square outer head with sunk spandrels, and having a segmental rear arch, probably all in brick but now plastered. Immediately W. of the doorway at the N. end of the screens, are remains of a shallow projection of uncertain function in brick and clunch with chamfered arris and chamfered plinth. Against this projection is a reset timber upright with moulding on one side, elaborately stopped at the base, and with provision for a horizontal return at the top, probably from the hall screen.

Later detail includes a clunch chimney piece in the ground-floor room E. of the hall with moulded four-centred inner and square outer head and overmantel divided into four bays by panelled pilasters rising to a richly moulded break-front cornice; scratchings read '1520' and 'I.P. 1734', the former of which can hardly be genuine. On the first floor are two other simpler, fireplaces with ovolo-moulded and chamfered jambs respectively, and some run-through panelling. The early 17th-century staircase has a closed string and rectangular balusters in two heights separated by a rail; the balusters, of stunted classical form with inclined orders, reduce in size as they meet the upper floor. The mid 17th-century landing balustrade, which returns against a square newel post with shaped finial and has turned balusters and moulded handrail, continues as a gate at the head of the stairs.

S. of the house is a brick bridge across the moat, of two arches, late 17th- or 18th-century. Outbuildings to the S.E. partly of brick and partly framed are of similar age.

^c(13) Kingston Pastures Farm (N.G. TL 329529) consists of a fairly lofty range of two storeys and attics with lower wing to the N. at the E. end, and is built of red brick with a platband at first-floor level and another across the gables between the eaves. The roofs are tiled. The house appears on the 1720 map of Kingston Wood (C.R.O.) as 'Pain's Home', but cannot then have been long built. There are chimneys at either end, and a third, internal. The fenestration has been altered. A length of stair from first floor to the attics, with square newels, turned balusters and close string, is 18th-century.

^c(14) New Farm (N.G. TL 338527) consists of a farm house and buildings, all of. c. 1840. The House (Class U), two-storeyed, of white brick with hipped slated roof, in a Georgian idiom, forms the S. side of a square yard. The Buildings form the remaining sides and are mostly of the same materials.

^a(15–16) Houses (Class I), two-storeyed, originally framed and plastered, both much altered, of 17th- or early 18th-century origin.

Earthworks

^c(17) Moated Site (Class A 3; N.G. TL 328540, part only on O.S.), on level ground 210 ft. above sea level in the S.W. of the parish. The remains consist of a moat with outer enclosure and a group of ponds. The moat seems to be a mediaeval defensive site altered when the present house (Monument (12)) and gardens, occupying the interior, were made; the ponds were perhaps constructed as fish ponds but have been much altered. It was probably the site of the manor of Kingston.

The moat is an irregular hexagon, about 220 ft. in diameter; its sides measure internally 152 ft. N.W., by 84 ft. N.E., by 133 ft. E., by 100 ft. S.E., by 105 ft. S., by 98 ft. S.W., and are straight except for the N.E. and E. which curve outwards. The wet ditch, partly filled on the E. and S.E., is 35 ft. to 40 ft. wide and 4 ft. to 6 ft. deep, but the S.E. side has been widened to 60 ft. and the S. and S.W. sides have been re-cut to a V shape. The S. side of the moat is crossed by a late 17th- or 18th-century brick bridge 20 ft. from its E. angle. There is a well to the N. of the house.

To the W. of the bridge an outer quadrilateral enclosure is attached to the S. and S.W. sides of the moat. The enclosure is 260 ft. W. by 204 ft. S.; the N. side projects some 80 ft. W. of the W. angle of the moat. On the E. and S. the ditch of the enclosure is now only a hollow 15 ft. to 30 ft. wide and 6 ins. to 1 ft. deep, but the W. side and the W. part of the N. side are formed by a stream which flows N. to fill the moat. Within the enclosure is a rectangular pond 80 ft. by 30 ft. and 2 ft. deep.

A group of marshy ponds lies 500 ft. S.E. of the moat. Three are rectangles, 80 ft. by 40 ft.; a fourth, larger and irregular, has perhaps been made by amalgamating further rectangles.

^c(18) Moated Site (Class A 1 (a); N.G. TL 341532, not on O.S.), in Eversden Wood, consists of a square island with sides 72 ft. long contained by a ditch 30 ft. wide and up to 6 ft. deep.

^a(19) Moated Site (Class A 1 (a)), at Queen's College Farm (Monument (4)), on boulder clay occupying the S.E. lip of a broad valley. Probably the site of the manor of Kingston St. George. The interior has been recently levelled and, with the N.E. and N.W. sides of the moat, is used as gardens. The roughly rectangular enclosure measures 234 ft. N.E. by 172 ft. N.W. The ditch is 25 ft. to 30 ft. wide, 1½ ft. to 5 ft. deep, and 10 ft. to 16 ft. wide across the bottom. Only the S.E. and S.W. sides are wet and the W. angle has been altered to form a pond. Outside the N.W. side a bank 40 ft. wide and 4 ft. high seems to be partly natural. Entrances in the S.E. and S.W. sides are 42 ft. and 84 ft. wide respectively, but it is impossible to say which, if either, is original.

(20) Cultivation Remains (not on O.S.). Ridge and furrow with ridges 60 yds. to 180 yds. long, 7 yds. to 13 yds. wide and 9 ins. to 1 ft. high with headlands of 7 yds. to 9 yds. exists in fields around the village, e.g. N. and N.W. of Queen's College Farm at N.G. TL 342554 and 345555; all have straight or slightly curved ridges, and were formerly in old enclosures. Ridge and furrow of the former open fields, 100 yds. to 260 yds. long where complete, 6 yds. to 12 yds. wide and 9 ins. to 1 ft. high, exists in the N. of the parish along the Bourn Brook, e.g. at N.G. TL 349558, and in the S. of the parish N.W. of Kingston Pastures Farm at 326530.

The traces of ridge and furrow visible on air photographs over most of the rest of the parish are arranged in curving furlongs and formed part of the open fields, called 'Low', 'Middle' and 'West' Fields. Kingston Wood Farm, which was a separate manor, was already enclosed by 1720. The boundaries of its fields and the woodland areas were then much as at present; most of the former had presumably been enclosed directly from wood or waste.

(Ref: map of Kingston Wood 1720 (C.R.O.); enclosure map 1818 (C.R.O.); air photographs: 106G/UK/1490/4023–5; CPE/UK/2024/3011–8, 4049–54.)