ALL SAINTS CHURCH
BOUGHTON ALUPH
ASHFORD
KENT
TN25 4EU
BOUGHTON ALUPH
ASHFORD
KENT
TN25 4EU
The Church of All Saints, Boughton Aluph
A short history
A short history
EARLY HISTORY
The origins of the church at Boughton Aluph can be traced back to Anglo-Saxon times, when Bocton, as the area was then known, was held by Earl Godwin and his son, King Harold.
After the Norman Conquest, in 1066, it became one of the manors of Eustace, Earl of Boulogne. This was confirmed in the Domesday Book of 1086, which went on to describe how Boltune - formerly Bocton - lay in the lathe of the men of Wye and in the hundred of Wye. The land was rated for taxation purposes as having seven and a half sulungs, a sulung being what would be called today a family farm. There was land requiring thirty-three teams of oxen, with eight oxen to a team, for its proper cultivation. The lord of the manor had three teams, while the villeins or feudal tenants, who numbered sixty-seven, together with five bordars or cottagers, had among them thirty teams. There were seventeen slaves, who were probably criminals. There was a church and two mills that were either water- or animal-driven, with an annual rental value of seven shillings and two pence. There were twenty-six acres of meadow, which were presumably beside the river, while the woodlands of the manor had sufficient acorns and beech mast to support two hundred pigs
Some ancient cellars under the farmhouse near the church and traces of masonry that have been found in the grounds probably mark the spot where the Earl’s steward lived, although the actual fabric of the building is thought to be of later date.
After the Norman Conquest, in 1066, it became one of the manors of Eustace, Earl of Boulogne. This was confirmed in the Domesday Book of 1086, which went on to describe how Boltune -
By 1210, the manor had passed to Alulphus of Boctune. He is believed to have replaced the Anglo-Saxon church, which would have been largely constructed out of wood, with the building that is the present day north chancel. Alulphus is still remembered for the fact that he gave his name to this manor nearly eight hundred years ago and the parish has been called Boughton Aluph to this day.