St. Marys Church, Hadlow
The first known mention of the church is in the Textus Roffensis (or Rochester Register) of 975 AD. This first church was probably a timber church. It is likely that the timber building lasted until about 1018 when the land of Hadlow was given to Eddeva – Edward the Confessor’s queen.
It is thought that she rebuilt the church at this time in stone. The lower part of the tower dates from about this time as evidenced by the long and short technique on the NE corner. The doorway through the west wall of the nave is of this early date and Dumbreck refers also to a saxon window above this doorway. It is blocked up but its position can be seen from the other side in the ringing chamber. Newman refers to the tower as thirteenth century but the fabric of much of the walls could well be older than this. Dumbreck refers to evidence at the base of the tower, where stone work has been exposed inside the church, which suggests that the tower was originally free standing and might well have predated the church as a refuge. It is tempting to suggest that a hole at the top of the tower wall and in the SE corner could have been used as a lookout. The west door at the base of the tower has the inscription “WB1637ES”: it refers to the repair of the tower and steeple in that year when Walter Barton and Essau Simmons were churchwardens. The church clock dates from 1791 and was made by John Thwaites of Clerkenwell.
The chancel arch is thirteenth century according to Newman. At the beginning of the nineteenth century the church was in a poor condition but considerable repair and building work was carried out during the century.
In 1847 the chancel was rebuilt and the vestry added.
In 1853 the south aisle was blocked up and the north aisle built and the then owner of Hadlow Castle built a private gallery at the west end with its own access. In 1936 the church and roof were again restored and at the same time the gallery was removed.
There is parking nearby at N51 13.446 E000 20.335 - though free spaces here do depend on the time of day.
Please ensure the canister is replaced out of sight and not IN FULL VIEW (else it will keep going missing) - tks
Nettles might be in the way at certain times of the year but this will not prevent retrieval
There is an additional clue on the log book - you will need this along with nine others in order to find my bonus cache (also part of the Church Micro series)
If any body would like to expand to this series please do, I would just ask that you could let Sadexploration know first so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication
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