Wainscott is a small village in Rochester, in Kent, England. It is in the civil parish of Frindsbury Extra, in the Medway Unitary Authority, that is Medway Council. By 1950 it had been absorbed into the neighbouring residential areas of Strood. Wainscott itself is located immediately next to Frindsbury, and is surrounded by agricultural land and ancient woodlands. It is speculated that the name is derived from the OE meaning Wagonner Cot or Wagon Shed.
History
Archaeological excavations in 2007 on the north-eastern edge of Wainscott revealed evidence for human activity dating from the early prehistoric through to the post-medieval period, and provided important new evidence for Bronze Age, Romano-British and Saxon settlements. Two Roman enclosures existed, one of which aligned with a metaled road with ditches on either side; coins also proved occupation during the Romano-British period, but after that there seems to have been a quiet period of a few centuries.
Pottery dated to the late 6th/7th century signals a new period of occupation, with two pit-houses and a number of other enclosures. There is evidence of small-scale industry. Finds from the mid-to late Saxon period evidence "a settlement of some status" at that time.
By the Late Saxon period the estates of Kent were divided up into lathes and hundreds. The Wainscott area lay in the Lathe of Aylesford and the Hundred of Shamwell. In the late eleventh century the hamlet of Wainscott may have been established by this time at the junction of the crossroads, although there is no written evidence for it. Its name probably means ‘wagon shelter’, suggesting a subordinate role in the larger estate of Frindsbury. At the time of the Domesday survey in 1086 the manor of Frandesberie (Frindsbury) was held by the bishop of Rochester. It had been assessed at 10 sulungs (971 ha) in 1066. There was a separate manor of Wainscott which had emerged from the parent manor of Frindsbury by the early 14th century. It was also called ‘Parlabien’s Yoke’ (or ‘Perleben’s Yoke’) after the family which held it at this time. It afterwards descended to the Colepeper family, which held it until the late 16th century. In the years 1494–1504 it was divided into two halves, and court records survive for one of these moieties. However, very little business was transacted beyond the collection of fines from tenants who failed to attend. If the extent of the manor was really one yoke, it would not have been more than 50 acres (c. 20.2 ha). The fields underlying the north excavation area to the north of Hoo Road were in the manor, as were a series of smaller fields along the south side of the road as far as the stream. Beyond the stream to the north-east were the fields of Islingham manor; to the south of the road lay parts of the manors of Frindsbury and Chattenden. At the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s, the manor of Frindsbury with its appendages was confiscated from Rochester Priory by Henry VIII, but was subsequently passed on to the Dean and Chapter of Rochester in 1542. The manor of Wainscott was sold in the late 16th century, and passed by a series of descents and sales to John Boghurst, who held it in the late 18th century. He still held a court leet and a court baron for the manor at this time. Post-medieval and modern maps and documents indicate that the area of the site comprised a number of agricultural fields, both within Islingham and Wainscott manors.