Lee Priory, Kent

Historical Description

Lee Priory, a seat in Ickham parish, Kent, on the Little Stour river, 4 miles E by S of Canterbury. It belonged to the Leighs; passed to the Southlands and the Barretts; had three fronts of an appearance like that of a small convent, was entirely remodelled toward the close of the 18th century by Mr T. Barrett, after designs by Wyatt; went in 1803 to the eldest son of Sir Egerton Brydges, then a minor; was afterwards inhabited by Sir Egerton himself, who established at it the famous Lee Priory press; and was purchased about 1860 by Mr Francis Philips, and afterwards restored and enlarged in the Domestic Gothic style, after designs by Sir G. G. Scott. Some fine old cedars are in the grounds.

Maps

Online maps of Lee Priory are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Kent newspapers online:

• Kent & Sussex Courier
• Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald
• Dover Express
• Kentish Gazette
• Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald
• Kentish Chronicle
• Maidstone Telegraph

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitation of Kent, 1619 is available on the Heraldry page, as is also The Visitation of Kent, 1663-68.