Bonnington - History

History

Although Bonnington is mentioned in the 11th Century Domesday Book, little is known of its early history, other than the fact that for several centuries it was owned by the military order of chivalry known as the Knights Hospitaller of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem - which still exists (Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta) and was the inspiration in the nineteenth century for St. John Ambulance. In the 19th Century, smuggling was a significant activity in Bonnington, but this declined rapidly with the capture of the infamous Ransley Gang.

From at least the time of Queen Elizabeth 1st, if not before, an old oak tree known as the Law-Day Oak, has played a significant role in the governance of Bonnington parish. In earlier times, the Law-Day Oak provided the setting for Courts held to hear local pleas, and to this day the Bonnington Annual Parish Meeting is held under the branches of this ancient oak.

In 1889 a Mrs White wrote in a learned journal thus about the Law-Day Oak:

"In the out-of-the-way villages on the borders of Romney marsh, the former home of shepherds and smugglers, the light of civilisation has not long shone, and many rites and superstitions connected with the worship of the oak are still persisted in by the inhabitants. A special sacredness appertains to the vows of lovers exchanged beneath the Bonnington oak, and its leaves, gathered with a certain formula at a certain time of night, are still sought by childless women and made into a medicinal draught, with the same intention as in Druidical days."