Occasional articles from the many experts on Kent Heritage 

GAVELKIND..............who?...........what?  -  from Ray Clark

GAVELKIND is an odd word that pops out of the pages of many books on Kent;  dictionaries tells us that the term perhaps has its origins in the Old English GOLFOL (tribute) and GIEFAN (to give);  KIND (child) is of course very Germanic.

It was probably in the 5th century that Jutish settlers in East Kent brought the word into wider use in the county.  A legal term, it relates to a system of land tenure whereby an intestate deceased's estate passed to all the sons, and in the absence of sons, to daughters, in equal proportions.  This is in contrast to a primogeniture (another odd, even horrid, word) system where the oldest child succeeds to an estate.

Following the Norman invasion in 1066,  William needed to pass through Kent on his way to London and the heart of England.  Tradition has it that somewhere near Swanscombe, he was confronted by the Kentish 'home guard'  -  remember, despite his victory at Hastings, William's army had taken something of a beating and, if he was to continue unmolested, he had to agree to a number of old Kentish customs and rights.  This ensured his continued rule.  One such custom was Gavelkind and this system of land tenure and inheritance remained in place in Kent - and only in Kent - until 1925!

Gavelkind's effects are clear to see to this day;  there are relatively few 'great estates' in our county whereas there are many quite substantial yeoman ('man holding a small landed estate' - see Links) houses, particularly in the Weald, built by succeeding generations as larger land holdings were broken up.