History of the inn …
This inn was built during the reign of Elizabeth I, in 1570. When first built it was a dwelling house, being much smaller than the present day structure, connected to the church of St. Augustine and was for many years the house of the parish clerk and sexton. In 1603 when the parsonage was surveyed one Septimus Dunstarre was the parish clerk and keeper of Keen (cows) living here. He had taken over the role of parish clerk upon the death of his father Matthias in 1601. The cows that he kept here probably belonged to the church. In 1620 he is recorded as parish clerk sexton and grazier which was another term given to one who kept livestock.
By 1642, he had been replaced by Nathaniel Huggette who is described in much the same way. After his death in 1663 other members of his family filled the position of parish clerk and did so until it passed from them to Isaac Ferriss in 1708. He carried out his duties, among which were the washing of vestments, the reparation of church books and the preparation of bread and wine for the celebration of masses, until his death in 1736 whereupon his son Jacob succeeded him in position, with one exception.
He added the title of ale-keeper to that of parish clerk, for in that year, with the consent of rector Thomas Buttonshaw, Jacob Ferriss was granted a licence that he may suffer ale to be tippled in his house, but may not suffer ale to be tippled during divine service, that he may not suffer ale to be tippled from pots of illegal measure, that he may not suffer ale to be tippled from pots not bearing the district stamp, that he may not suffer ale to be tippled that is impured by adulteration, and that he may not suffer ale from a disorderly house.
At a brief hearing before magistrates at Dymchurch, Ferriss registered the house under the title of the Royal Oak ale-house. And in August of that year of 1736 the doors of this house were opened and ale was sold here for the first time. Although he drew the first ale here his time as keeper of the Royal Oak was short lived for he died in 1739, probably of consumption. He was succeeded here by James Wreight.
At this point in time, and for some years before, the rector of St. Augustine’s, after collecting the tythes from the parishes of Brenzett and Ivychurch, held tythe suppers at the Royal Oak.
James Wreight served here and continued with his duties until 1751, he was the last parish clerk to serve ale at the sign of the Royal Oak, Brookland. In that year of 1751 the house and a portion of land was sold off under the description of œall that messuage or tenement hereto fore commonly called the Royal Oak, to-gether with barn, stable, garden and 1 piece or parcel of land thereunto belonging in the occupation of James Wreight situate and being within the parish of Brookland . It was purchased by Thomas Austen innkeeper and master mariner of the Ship Galleon, Greenwich, in the county of Middlesex.
Austen purchased the house after marrying Elizabeth Wratten, spinster of Brookland parish in 1750. He owned and kept the Royal Oak until his death in 1778 whereupon his widow inherited the house and continued to run it until her own death in 1782. The Royal Oak then passed with all it contained, to her daughter Mercy who at the time was trading as a clothier from the inn. In 1790 she married Richard Kingsnorth, a carpenter of the parish and to-gether they ran the house until his death in 1811. In December of that year the widow Kingsnorth sold the Royal Oak to William Baldwin a brewer of West Borough in the town of Maidstone.
After carrying out alterations to the house, Baldwin tenanted it to Richard Santer, a grocer and draper of Brookland in whose hands it remained until 1819. In that year it was leased to Johnathan Grist who applied for and was granted a wine and spirit licence. It was whilst in his hands that the famous battle of Brookland took place on 11th February 1821, between a gang of smugglers and a party of blockade men in which the Royal Oak inn figured briefly. The smugglers had been surprised whilst unloading a cargo at Camber and were pursued inland, by the blockade men.
Upon arriving at Brookland fierce fighting broke out that left four smugglers dead and sixteen wounded, of the blockade men eight wounded and one dead. The dead man, a midshipman called McKenzie, along with two other officers was carried into the Royal Oak where upon examination it was found that œthe gallant midshipman s life had expired . He was buried in Lydd churchyard. For his part of the affray the gang s leader Cephas Quested went to the gallows on 4th July 1821. For some tine after the battle a cross was cut into the turf near Cheyne Court to mark the spot where one of the smugglers, a man called Page of Brookland, died.
Johnathan Grist died here in 1836 whereupon his son Giles took over until 1848 when he was succeeded by James T. Morgan. By this date William Baldwin s sons, George and Henry, had formed the Medway Brewery at Maidstone. Morgan served here until 1863. In that year the Medway Brewery was taken over by Holmes & Style. They tenanted the Royal Oak to John Vincer who was here until 1872, being succeeded by Thomas Brett, he in 1876 by Stephen Burgess Sims, and he in 1886 by Joseph Chaplin. In 1888, whilst in his hands, Alfred Style became the sole owner of the Medway Brewery and in 1899 he merged with Edward Winch, brewer of Chatham.
George Wheatley succeeded Chaplin in 1902, he in 1904 by Percy C. Mudge, he in 1908 by George Pratt and he in 1910 by Ernest Lewis who was here until his death in 1929. Also in that year Style and Winch were taken over by Barclay Perkins of London. Upon her husbands death Mrs Beatrice May Lewis took over the house until 1930 when she handed over to Richard Grainger and he in 1938 to Frank Lambert. He served here until his death in 1952, whereupon his widow Mary took over. In 1955 whilst in her hands, Barclay Perkins merged with Courage & Co., of Horselydown London.
Mary Lambert gave up the Royal Oak in 1976 and was succeeded by Kevin Roy Kerr and his wife Victoria, who served here until 1996. During their time at the Royal Oak they took the opportunity to purchase the public house from Courage & Co. and traded as a Freehouse. Andrew Lovell, the strange landlord, succeeded the Kerrs and continued here until 1999. Following a period of closure and a major refurbishment started by the Paine family the premises were bought by Phil and Faith Cowell and David and Linda Wynder, who re-launched the inn on 30th October 2004 having re-named it as The Yew and Ewe.
In April 2006 The Yew and Ewe was sold to Enterprise Inns with the landlords – David and Zara Rhys-Jones taking over the lease on 24th April 2006. The inn under the present ownership had its name reverted back to being The Royal Oak. Since April 2006 The Royal Oak has gone on to become:
- A “Main Entry” in the “Good Pub Guide”
- 1 of only 7 pubs in Kent with the God Pub Guide “Knife/Fork” accolade for “… outstanding food”
- A “Pick of the Pubs” in the “AA Good Pub Guide”
- “Recommended” in the “Best of Britain’s Pub Guide”
- Awarded “Cask Marque” accreditation for its real ales
- A “4 Star Accredited – Inn” by Visit Britain & Enjoy England
- A finalists in the “Newcomer of the Year” category at The Publican Annual UK Awards
- Scoring 7/10 and reviewed by Jasper Gerard in the highly acclaimed Saturday Daily Telegraph “Yourtableisready” section. Follow link below: