SUTTON-VALENCE, a parish in the hundred of
EYHORNE, lathe of AYLESFORD, county of KENT, 4
miles (S.E. by S.) from Maidstone, containing 1058 inhabitants.
The living is a vicarage, with the perpetual
curacy of East Sutton annexed, in the archdeaconry
and diocese of Canterbury, rated in the king's books
at £7. 9. 7., and in the patronage of the Dean and
Chapter of Rochester. The church, dedicated to St.
Mary, is a handsome structure in the later English
style, with the remains of a lofty spire, injured by
lightning; it has lately received an addition of three
hundred sittings, of which two hundred and eighty are
free, the Incorporated Society for the enlargement of
churches and chapels having granted £100 towards
defraying the expense. There is a place of worship for
Independents. The village, called Town Sutton, is situated
below the ridge of hills bounding the Weald,
and was anciently distinguished for a strong castle, of
which part of the keep still remains: it is a highly
picturesque ruin, being overgrown with ivy, and having
branches of trees sprouting from its walls. A free
grammar school, founded here pursuant to letters patent
of the 18th of Elizabeth, by which the master
and four wardens of the Clothworkers' Company were
constituted governors, is endowed with a rent-charge
of £30, by William Lambe and John Franklin, in
support of a master and an usher; another of £ 5,
bequeathed in 1713, by George Maplisden, for the
usher; and with £200, the gift of Francis Robins, in
1721, to found two exhibitions, of £10 a year each,
in St. John's College, Cambridge; Mr. Lambe also
left £4 per annum for a visitation, and the master
occupies a house rent-free. Thirty boys receive an
English education, and instruction in the classics when
required.