Mascalls Court

One researcher says (without citation) that land in Brenchley was owned by Sir John Culpeper². His son, Sir Thomas³ was known as Sir Thomas Colepeper de Brenchesle (Brenchley). Hasted* notes that Mascalls Manor (in Brenchley) was owned by the Culpepers during the reign of Edward II (1307-1327) and that one of Sir Thomas’s sons, Walter⁴ died possessed of it in 1327. All of these Culpepers were direct ancestors of the modern-day Culpeppers.

Mascalls Court is believed by Culpepper Connections to be the oldest of all the  Culpeper home sites for which a home still exists on the site today. Of course, the current home may bear little resemblance to the dwelling that would have stood there in the 14th century.

* History of Kent, Vol. V, pages 284-285.

Location: On Mascalls Court Road, SE of Paddock Wood and N of Brenchley
National Grid Coordinates: TQ 678 439

Photograph taken by Warren Culpepper, March 2000.

Badsell Manor

Badsell Manor belonged to direct ancestors of the modern day Culpeppers, and the modern home found there in March 2000 still has a moat around it (see lower photo). It is thought to be the second oldest site of an old Culpeper home where a home still exists on the site today.

Sir Thomas Culpeper⁶ will of 1428: “Touching the manor of Badeselle it is to remain to Walter⁷ my son and his heirs male, with remainder to the heirs male of myself and Joyce my wife.”

Location: On Badsell Road (B-2017), 1 mile W of Paddock Wood, and just E of the A228.

National Grid Coordinates: TQ 658 447

Photographs by Warren Culpepper, March 2000.

Brenchley Village

Location: 4 miles NW of Goudhurst
National Grid Coordinates: TQ 677 418

1831 Topographical Dictionary:
Brenchley, a parish in the hundred of Brenchley and Horsemonden, lathe of Aylesford, county of Kent, 4¼ miles N from Lamberhurst, containing 2264 inhabitants. The church, dedicated to All Saints, is an ancient cruciform structure, built chiefly of sand-stone, with a lofty tower. 

All Saints Church, Brenchley

There are no memorials in evidence to the Culpepers, and since the Culpepers appeared to have left the Brenchley area prior to the 1560 date of the earliest extant parish registers, there is no evidence at all of their involvement at Brenchley Church.

Location: 4 miles NW of Goudhurst, on Fairman’s Lane
National Grid Coordinates: TQ 679 412

Photograph by Warren Culpepper, March 2000.