SWALE DISTRICT

SHURLAND HALL - HIGH ST, EAST CHURCH, EASTCHURCH, SHEERNESS ME1

The Shurland Hall is a 16th-century gatehouse situated in Eastchurch and is part of the service wing of a once important medieval house, constructed in the first half of the 16th-century.
it has been said in a Saxon Chronicle that in 893AD when the Danish Chief invaded, he fortified the Ancient Fort called Scipe on the site, It is also said that in 1017 Canite, son of Sweyn Forkbeard visited the fort and his father had been given hostages of English nobility. According to an ancient document, Cnut the Great (also known as Canute) is said to have cut off their hands and noses while at the castle. 
In 1066, William the Conqueror took over the area and gave the Isle of Sheppey to his barons and they built fortified manors upon the area and among them was Baron De Shurland who took up residence in this Manor and his family remained there for nearly 200 years. 
In the 13th Century, a Castle was established by Adam De Shurland. It has been said, it was built by stone from Chilham Castle. It was called the Scripe and again as with the other buildings, was built for defence purposes. 
Shurlands Hall was built between 1510 and 1518 by Sir Thomas Cheyney (who had married Margaret De Shurland)  
It was made of fine red brick with stone dressings. Sir Thomas was a  prominent courtier, landowner, and Knight of the Garter.  Built with octagonal towers and battlements, a very Regal place and it was here he played host to Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn (a distant relative) in October 1532 and Anne is said to have stayed there at some point too.  In 1570 Sir Henry Cheyne (Sir Thomas son) left the hall to live with his mother and the area sold off, the Hall to Queen Elizabeth I but the hall then fell into disrepair. 
In 1580 the lease was granted by Queen Elizabeth I to a farmer, in return for him converting ten of the outer chambers into tenements and they were to be filled with able-bodied men to serve with Cavalier, Pike, and Bow, as well as other forms of weaponry to add some protection for the island. and the rest of the structure to be used for his family and for other decent honest persons to dwell.
1593 the manor was granted to Sir Thomas Hoby, then his son Edward.  Then upon the expiry of his lease, James I granted the estate to Sir Philip Herbert, also making him a Baron and the Herbert family were still residing in the hall in 1713
In 1650 Shurlands hall was partially destroyed under orders of Cromwell and all that was left habitable was the gatehouse and reception hall and in 1704 the two daughters of Henry Herbert inherited the residence.
It had been altered in  the 18th century (when large sash windows were inserted) 
In 1840 it was the residence of Robert Holford who was the Equerry to King Edward VII when he was Prince of Wales and some restoration work was done on what remained, during the 19th Century.
The Isle of Sheppey was the cradle of aviation in Britain. In 1909, the Short brothers built the country’s first aircraft factory on Sheppey and, at an airstrip in Eastchurch, aviation pioneer John William Dunne took off in his flying wing. Winston Churchill learned to fly there in 1913.
In WWI, Shurland was commandeered by the fledgling Royal Naval Air Service (the forerunner to the RAF) in and again by RAF gunnery staff during the Second World War and with soldiers billeted at Shurlands Hall, this led to further damage to the property.
After the war it became a private residence again until 1930, then it was used for storage for cattle fodder and Farm implements, vandals destroyed it and took the lead from the roof and removed the stained glass windows and along with the elements, it was left to ruin.
In 1952, it was given a Grade II listing and in 1975 it became a Scheduled Monument.
It was planned to open part to the public, while the rest used as a private residence and in 1996 special scaffolding was put up and all that was left standing was the shell of the gatehouse and the ruins of the main hall.
In 2006 it was bought by the Spitalfields Trust and renovations were done to repair the Facade and new  chimneys erected
and it returned to private residence again in 2011 and was bought by Daniel O’Donoghue and his wife Suzanne, who helped in the design of the rooms.
 It now boasts four reception rooms, five bedrooms, and three bathrooms.  The brass plaques in the hall’s kitchen are the remains of telephones used to connect to the guns, during its war usage and next to the house stands a large barn of nearly 4,000 sq ft, which the couple fully restored and now has a kitchen, bar, and lavatory. 
The O'Donoghues are looking for somewhere smaller and it is currently  on the market for £2,500,000
HAUNTINGS
There have been sightings and strange happenings at Shurlands house over the last few centuries and according to  Charles Igglesden in his book, '' A saunter through Kent with pen and pencil XXVIII'' in the early 1900's. He tells of a female informant who told him that people would never stay in the great hall at midnight, due to a ghostly lady wearing black silk who had been seen,  (there are stories that she is  Grace Davis, a woman who drowned herself in the pond there in 1769 but this could be confused with the ghost of the old pond house in  Eastchurch, see Old Pond house - Eastchurch on Other hauntings for info on her) . 
He was also told by this female, that a big black dog has also been seen and the service bells would go off, for some unknown reason. Horses hooves were heard outside the front door and a hearse was seen going past but when the witnesses went to the door to look, there was nothing there. 
Doors would be found locked at night and the resident dogs would refuse to go past one of the rooms and even refuse to enter. The door handles would be seen turning and the noise of someone running their hand along the panels of the door had also been reported 
Over the years, people walking their dogs around the area, have reported their animals behaving strangely in certain areas, sometimes even freezing and cowering in fear and others have reported a strange feeling or peculiar atmosphere around the pond area. 
In 2013 Christdeena Ellis featured in an article in Kent Online claiming to have captured a ghost of a 17/18th Century maid in the window of Shurlands hall on camera while visiting the area when researching for her book about Shurland Hall.