Fulbert The Saxon

TV Cabbage: The History of Whitstable Part 2

To date, the earliest known spelling as ‘Whitstable’ was recorded in 1610. It would appear that modern historians, chroniclers and other recordists of the 19th & 20th centuries have used that spelling as an easy reference back to times beyond 1610. That practice has led to confusion as their works can be read as though that is how the name was spelt prior to that year. It also appears as though the same practice has been applied when referring to the general area between Seasalter and Swalecliffe - thus inferring that the modern town of Whitstable existed much earlier than in fact it did. A Hundred is said to be the area occupied by or able to support 100 families. However that does not necessarily mean the area is in one contiguous lot contained within a single boundary. Due to the nature of some areas, a separate parcel or parcels of land may have been included to provide a specific need. An example of that may have been an area for the summer grazing of stock if suitable land was not available within the main Hundred itself. Neighbouring Witenstaple Hundred to the west was Bocton under Blean Hundred, with Feversham Hundred in the South west corner. (Bocton is now known as Boughton, and Feversham as Faversham). To the east, was Bleangate Hundred. South of the River Stour, Dredge and Pethan Hundred (containing Canterbury) sealed off the southern border of Witenstaple Hundred. Old maps show that the eastern border of Witenstaple Hundred appears to have followed The Burnan (today’s Swalecliffe Brook) to Bogshole valley then south across the valley into Clowes Wood before turning slightly east of south to pass St. Stephens church meeting the River Stour between Canterbury and Sturrey. Following the Stour south east through Thanington, the border appears to turn North away from the Stour about Chartham to Harbledown then back to the coast. 4. In recent years, (the middle decades of the 20th century), it has been suggested that the French word for oyster ("Huitre") evolved to “Whit” and the Saxon word "Staple" (meaning market) evolved to “stable” - hence, an ‘oyster market’ and the origin of the name Whitstable. However, this would be an unlikely source of ‘Witenstaple’ and there does not appear to have been an ‘oyster market’ as such identified at Whitstable in such early times. 5.