Simple, traditional cache giving good views of St Johns Church,
Groombridge.
Parking is available around the green opposite the church. It is
not far from here although there is a road to cross and please be
careful in wet weather.
On hiding the cache contained a log and mini torch for FTF. NO
PENCIL so please remember your pen/pencil.
And now for some information on the church. The history of a
church in Old Groombridge goes back to 1239 when William Russell
and his wife Haweis were granted a charter to build the Chapel of
St John the Apostle and Evangelist. This was a chantry, a small
building within the moat of the manor house, consecrated for the
saying of Masses for the souls of its benefactors. Lands were
granted to Sir Robert, Rector of Speldhurst, to pay the stipend of
the Chaplain performing this duty.
The present Church is built in the last stage of the Gothic
style, known as perpendicular. It is a historic reminder of an
event, more than three and a half centuries ago, when Prince
Charles (later to be King Charles I) made a journey to Spain in
disguise to try to persuade the daughter of the Spanish King to
elope with him. The event caused great concern to the people of
England who still had the memory of the Spanish Armada fresh in
their minds. At this time John Packer, Clerk of the Privy Seal to
Charles I, was living in the manor at Groombridge and he vowed that
if Charles returned safe from Spain he would build a chapel in his
park as a thanks-offering to God. When Charles returned safe in
both senses, unscathed and unmarried, the Chapel was built and
finished in 1625 and this is recorded in the Latin inscription
above the porch. Although there was still the small chapel inside
the moat of the manor house, which served for the family and its
retainers, the villagers had up until then had to go to Speldhurst
for Sunday worship and for baptisms, weddings and funerals. So the
building of the new Chapel made it much easier for the villagers to
attend church. With the chapel went a piece of land as a
burial-ground, and the registers show that the first person to be
buried there was John Lee on 13th June 1633.
John Packer’s Church remained a private Chapel from 1625-1872,
and for a time it became known as St Charles’ Chapel. In later
years, after the last male member of the Packer family had died,
the estate became vested in Chancery and the Chapel fell into
disrepair. When William Camfield, a Tunbridge Wells builder, bought
Groombridge Place in 1754 he “repaired and beautified” the chapel
“from a very ruinous condition” and he then added his name to the
Packer stone over the porch in letters twice as large as the
original inscription.
In spite of Camfield’s beautifying, by the beginning of the 19th
century the building is described by Amsinck in his “Tunbridge
Wells and Neighbourhood” as in a wretched state of dilapidation. It
was subsequently re-roofed. In 1872 the Church was officially
consecrated and dedicated, as in ancient times, to St John the
Evangelist. In 1895 a fire caused by lightning seriously damaged
the east end. This was repaired but in 1912 it was found that the
roof had not been properly supported and was weighing too heavily
on the top of the wall and breaking up the window arches. Some of
the buttresses, too, were separating from the walls they were meant
to support. This was put right at the cost of £300, a large sum in
those days.
One of the main attractions of this Church is its wealth of
stained glass, which was mainly introduced in the latter part of
the 19th century. Six of the eight large windows are the work of
the celebrated Sussex artist, Charles Kempe, but also of special
note is the centre light of the S.E. window, featuring the armorial
bearings of the Packer family. This is the original glass, dating
from the building of the Church.
Another glory of the chapel is the brass-work. There are four
brass chandeliers hanging over the aisle, one of them said to be
Flemish 17th century work and the others copies. Also of note are
the decorative candlesticks around the walls, the oak pulpit and
font and the many memorials. The clock at the west end is very old.
It is one of the few remaining one-handed clocks in the country and
the space between the figures is divided into four and not five.
The date on the clock face is 1792 but the clock itself is much
earlier.
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