<< Back Continued - from 1265 to the present:-

The holders of the manor changed over the years (see also notes on the castle) but, in 1265, Henry III then conferred it on his half-brother William de Valence, along with 631 others including Compton Valence in Dorset and Newton Valence in Hampshire. William was a trusted servant of the king, though often at odds with the lords of England, and is buried in Westminster Abbey. (The 'Valence' is the French town in Provence. After King John's death, his widow (and Henry's mother) went to France and married Hugh de Lusignan. William was a son of this marriage but the family had to flee to England when Hugh backed the wrong side in a civil war in France. Why did the name of Valance stick? Perhaps because William spent time here? As Edward I's chief general, he would have found Sutton Valence to be a useful pied-à-terre if Edward himself was staying with his wife at her favourite residence at Leeds Castle. )

William was succeeded by his son Aymer de Valence, who became Keeper of the Marches of Scotland. His violent opposition to Robert the Bruce could well be due to the fact that Robert had murdered Aymer's bother-in-law. Although initially in rebellion against Edward II, he was later reconciled and commanded forces at Bannockburn. In 1321 he besieged and overran Leeds Castle when its holder, Bartholomew de Badlesmere was in revolt. In the same year he was married for a second time, to Mary of St Pol. This marriage was childless and after Aymer's death Mary endowed the College of Valence Marie at Cambridge, now known as Pembroke College.

Mediaeval Times.

On Aymer's death in 1344, the manor passed to his sister who was married into the Hastings family, and for a while the village was known as Sutton Hastings. One of the members of that family, Lord Grey of Ruthin, was captured by Owain Glendower in the Welsh rising of 1401, and the manor was one of those sold to provide his ransom.

After these turbulent years, things settled down. The Clifford family bought the manor in 1418 and possessed it for 130 years, finally selling it on to the Filmers.

The Filmer connection.

The Filmer family became rich in Elizabethan times and moved from their original possessions at Otterden, north of Lenham, to the Suttons. They built a grand new house at East Sutton Park and gradually increased their land holding in all the Suttons until the break-up sale of 1916, following the death of the last male heir, Sir Robert.

The Filmers seem to have been enlightened landlords, lending money to construct the turnpike from Maidstone to Tenterden, and encouraging the provision of a gas supply for the village at an early date. In later years they were friendly with Edward VII, who visited the village to see his mistress, Mrs Keppel, in Pleasure House on the border with East Sutton.

In 1916 Sir Robert Filmer was killed on service in France. His sister had married into a Yorkshire family and the sale of all the estate not in East Sutton was arranged. Here are some of the bargains to be had:

• Lot 135, The Old Parsonage, 'A perfect little place in an ideal position' with grounds of about an acre, sold at £725
• Lot 139, The Freehold Pleasure Farm of Sutton Place, with 57 acres including the Captain's Pond, 'constructed to form a restful coup d'oeil' from the house, sold at £2050
• Lot 144, a block of Three Freehold Cottages, the Walnut Tree Cottages, currently let at a rental of 3 shillings (15p) weekly, sold at £190
• Lot 148, Valuable Freehold Shop Premises, known as the Central Stores, did not sell after bid of £480
• Lot 155, The Forge, a 'small and well-arranged cottage residence' sold at £370
• Lot 162, a delightful old-fashioned Tudor cottage [Heaven Cottage], let at £5 per annum, sold for £235
• Lot 174a, the freehold garage in North street, being the chief dpot of Reliance Motor Buses, did not sell after bid of £ 190
• Lots 177-179, building plots of 2 acres each on Bloody Mountains, no bids received

Though the Filmer estate in Sutton Valence was sold off in 1916, the Filmer family remained at East Sutton until 1939.