Acrise Place is a mainly 18th-century house located about 6 miles (9.6 km) north of

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a coastal town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour, shipping port, and fashionable coastal res ...

in the village of

Acrise Acrise is an ecclesiastical and civil parish in the Folkestone and Hythe district, Kent, England, located between Elham and Densole and about six miles north of Folkestone. The settlement derives its name from Old English, 'Acrise' being a d ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England. It is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. It is a brick-built house dating from the 16th century, with modifications in 1671 and 1691, and which was restored in the 1950s and 1987. There are two parallel ranges, a 16th-century north-facing range and a 17th-century south-facing range. It was originally built by the Hamon family in the 16th century, but acquired in 1666 by Jane and

Thomas Papillon Thomas Papillon (6 September 1623 – 5 May 1702) was an English merchant and politician, an influential figure in the City of London for half a century. He served as a Commissioner for the Victualling of the Navy from 1689 to 1699. Early lif ...

for about £6,000. Jane managed this property and their town house. Her letter from 1667 and 1668 are extant. The house and estate were passed down in that family for several generations. Two of the Papillon owners were Philip and

David Papillon David Papillon FRS (1691 – 26 February 1762) of Acrise Place, Kent was a British lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1722 and 1741. Early life Papillon was the eldest son of Phillip Papillon of Acrise, MP for Dover, ...

, father and son, who were both MPs for nearby

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

. In 1850 the Papillons sold Acrise to William Mackinnon MP after whose death it was sold in 1908 to the Walney family, who occupied it until 1936. After standing empty for a time the house was used by the Army during the war and repurchased by the Papillons in 1946. On 29 July 1944, Flight Sgt Anthony Drew of 56 Squadron RAF, while pursuing a

V1 Flying Bomb The V-1 flying bomb ( "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () name was Fieseler Fi 103 and its suggestive name was ( hellhound). It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug ...

in a Hawker Tempest, became disoriented in cloud and crashed into the ground, narrowly missing the house. Drew's remains and some wreckage of his

Hawker Tempest The Hawker Tempest is a British fighter aircraft that was primarily used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the Second World War. The Tempest, originally known as the ''Typhoon II'', was an improved derivative of the Hawker Typhoon, intended to a ...

were recovered the next day. Drew had previously shot down 3 V-1s. The Folkestone Building Company purchased the property in 1986 and undertook a major programme of restoration of the main house. They also converted the 18th century stable blocks and ancillary buildings to exclusive residential units. The main house is now divided into two separate properties, Acrise Place and Acrise Court. The 18th-century stable block is a separately listed

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

References

External links

Acrise Place
Country houses in Kent Grade II* listed buildings in Kent {{kent-geo-stub