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Before valence was a school it was a mansion
Valence straddles the parishes of Brasted and Westerham in kent.
The estate has been in existence for at least five hundred years.
The earliest reference of the name comes from the church
records for Westerham in 1583 and the manorial court rolls from 1591.
The earliest description of the estate comes from
Thomas Philipott in 1659 who states that its name derived from
the De Valonii family.
Variations of this name include Vaions.
Valognes and Valoines.
So the origin remains uncertain.
However,there are other references which assist, in particular,at the
time of King John(1199-1216) when the Manor of Titsey on
the Surrey border with Westerham was held by the the de Clare family,
who granted the title of the Manor to Haimo de
Valoines for attending his lord at war.
In addition, a deed from 1147/8 also records the de Clare family giving
ten parcels of land in Brasted to haimo de Valoines.
The extent of the Valence estate begins to emerge with the first
known deed of 1622 recording 230 acres in both Westerham
and Brasted parishes, and land in Cudham Down to the north.
There have been numerous owners from Haimo de
Valoignes in 1147/8 to the present owners of the school,
possibly thirty-one known individuals.
The mansion has been extended over the years and was substantially refurbished after the fire in 1989.
The old mansion remains and the stables serve as classrooms and staff accommodation which is called "Stable Cottages".
The most visual change has been the loss of Valence Wood after the great storm in 1987.
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