Bullace Lane, Dartford

According to ‘Some Notes on the Road from London to Canterbury in the Middle Ages’ (1898) Edited by Henry Littlehales ‘The ancient house at the corner of the lane on the left a few yards before we reach the church*, is thus mentioned in Mr, Dunkin’s history : —

“The house at the east corner of Bullis Lane, now occupied by Mr. Stidolph, an upholsterer, was the dwelling of John Grovehurst in the reign of King Edward IV. That gentleman in 1465 obtained permission of the vicar and churchwardens of Dartford to erect a chimney (still standing) on a part of the churchyard, and in acknowledgment thereof provided a lamp to burn perpetually during the celebration of divine service in the parish church. . . . The principal apartment in the upper floor (a room about twenty-five feet by twenty feet) was originally hung round with tapestry, said to be worked by the nuns at the priory** who were occasionally permitted to visit at the mansion. The principal figures were in armour, and two of them as large as life, latterly called Hector and Andromache; in the background was the representation of a large army with inscribed banners. The colours of the worsted remained quite brilliant, although the tapestry itself was decayed. . . . The blue room was supposed to have been an oratory. Old legends say a ghost was laid under one of the floors.

*Holy Trinity Church. Built by Bishop Gundulf in 1080AD possibly on the site of an older Saxon church. In 1422 the funeral of Henry V was held here. It was enlarged with a new chapel dedicated to St Thomas of Canterbury (Thomas Becket) during the reign of King Henry III. The altar in this chapel was removed in around 1538 when Henry VIII disbanded the monasteries.

**The priory was a house of Dominican nuns (Sisters of the Order of St. Augustine)