Description
Book SynopsisThis fascinating, meticulously researched book is an affectionate account of an English country home, Higham Hall in Kent. When you live in a historic house, you are always conscious of your predecessors. 'Gunpowder, Apples and Cement' brings the previous occupants of one such house to life. Detailing a continuous thread of occupation from the mid-seventeenth century to today, tells the story of an English country home and the families who lived there. Full of engrossing details about the social and economic history of Kent, it provides an engaging history of middle-class English life over a period of 450 years. In the process, this captivating story looks at the links between intensely local history and national events - and reminds us that history is made up of individuals and their stories.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1 - Higham - a North Kent village Chapter 2 - Early ownership Chapter 3 - 'New Plants' - Samuel Cordwell and his father in law, Richard Machen Chapter 4 - Samuel Cordwell - gunpowder maker to the King Chapter 5 - Cordwell to Levinge - London lawyers Chapter 6 - The Dutch connection : the Van Heythuysen family Chapter 7 - John, Henry and James Taylor - the Taylors of Taylors Lane Chapter 8 - Tenant farmers Chapter 9 - Nineteenth-century owners and landlords Chapter 10 - The de Michele family Chapter 11 - Beatrice, Dorothy and Adam and their children - the impact of two world wars on one family Chapter 12 - Society women and army officers Chapter 13 - Post-war fortunes and the division of the estate Chapter 14 - A middle-class home in the late twentieth century Chapter 15 - House history and what it tells us Endnotes Appendices Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Appendix 3 Appendix 4
