Summer 2023

LOCAL HISTORY
It’s 1381 and
Cranbrook is
Revolting!
You might be
surprised to learn
that the people of
this peaceful, and
normally tranquil,
rural area have
historically been known to rise
up against our leaders in anger at
their decisions about Cranbrook,
Sissinghurst and Frittenden.
After the Black Death (1346–
53), life in Britain had slowly
returned to being pretty stable,
though it had resulted in a lack of
available labourers, which caused
wages to rise. It should all have
been fine but the government of
King Richard II decided to impose
a poll tax of 4 pence on every
adult to help pay for a long and
drawn out war with the French,
now known as the Hundred Years’
War.
The country, and especially
Kent, went mad! Wat Tyler
(possibly from Maidstone) led
a group of rebels from this area
and Canterbury in the Peasants’
Revolt. It wasn’t just about
money, they wanted to abolish
serfdom (a form of slavery where
farm peasants could be sold
along with a farm). Over 100,000
Men of Kent and Kentish Men,
including our local ancestors,
marched to meet the king in
London They crossed London
Bridge, destroying legal records
on the way, opening prisons
and setting villains free, sacking
homes and removing the heads
of a few government officials who
got in their way. They met the
“The country, and especially Kent, went
mad! Wat Tyler (possibly from Maidstone)
led a group of rebels from this area and
Canterbury in the Peasants’ Revolt”
king’s army at Smithfield.
The king (aged 14 at the time)
and Wat Tyler spoke personally
on the issues. Richard II is said to
have agreed to the rebels’ terms,
but Tyler and some of the king’s
servants got into a brawl, Tyler
was slashed with a sword after
trying the stab the Lord Mayor
of London (William Walworth)
and the rebellion fell apart. The
crown went back on its promises
and hunted down the rioters. Wat
Tyler’s head ended up on a spike
on London Bridge.
Many of the rioters were
prosecuted and records state
that men from the towns
of Cranbrook, Tenterden,
Biddenden, Staplehurst and
Frittenden were accused of
‘pulling down houses, stealing
property and compelling people
to hand over their money.’
Nothing new there then!
It’s no coincidence that in the
1300s the people of Cranbrook
and Sissinghurst, along with
the rest of the country, had
experienced the plague as we
have gone through Covid (the
Black Death killed 50 per cent of
the population of Europe back
then; we still don’t know the
figures for Covid) and that there
was a shortage of workers, not to
mention a war in Europe.
The general public are less
trusting of their elected leaders
these days and are questioning
their decisions affecting our
lives; TWBC beware. What
starts with potholes and a lack
of KCC funding for Cranbrook
Parish compared to other similar
sized towns in Kent (right when
we desperately need it) might
escalate into more co-ordinated
protests. My head won’t end up
on a spike on London Bridge, but
leaders in parliament might again
feel the wrath of the people of
Kent. Ann Historian
The Cake • Summer 2023 37