St Marys Church is the parish church in

Hadlow Hadlow is a village in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. It is situated in the Medway valley, north-east of Tonbridge and south-west of Maidstone. The Saxon name for the settlement was Haeselholte (in the Textus Roffens ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The church is a Grade II* listed building.

History

The first record of a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

in Hadlow was in 975. This church would probably have been a wooden building. In 1018, the early church was replaced by a building of stone. In the 12th century, the church was rebuilt and extended by Richard de Clare, then lord of the Manor of Hadlow. De Clare granted the church to the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

s in 1166. The Knights Hospitallers later had a preceptory at nearby

West Peckham West Peckham is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. The River Bourne flows through the extreme west of the parish, and formerly powered a paper mill ( Hamptons Mill) and corn mill ( Oxenhoath Mill) ...

, which was their local administrative base. From the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Con ...

until the 18th century, Hadlow did not have a resident Lord of the Manor, being held under

Tonbridge Castle Tonbridge Castle is a 13th century castle situated in Tonbridge, Kent, England. Early history Following the Norman Conquest, Richard Fitz Gilbert was granted land in Kent to guard the crossing of the River Medway. He erected a simple Motte-and ...

. It is thought that the tower was raised and the spire added in the 15th century. Little money was spent on the maintenance of the church, although some 15th- and 16th-century bequests are recorded. Thomas Walter,

Yeoman Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of servants in an English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in mid-14th-century England. The 14th century also witn ...

bequeathed 20s in 1448 "To make a window on the north side of the church by the altar of Our Lady". John Tatlyngbery bequeathed 10 marks "For repair of the great door of the church". In 1456, Richard Bealde bequeathed 13s 4d "For repair of the tower of Hadlow church". In 1461, Dionysia Ippenbury left 3d for masses to be said each year for 12 years. In 1465, William Palle, yeoman left a

cow Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

to the church. It was to be sold and "the profits therefrom to be devoted to the maintenance of a lamp in the chancel." In 1509, Thomas Fisher, yeoman bequeathed £20 "for making a new rood loft". The rood screen may not have been in existence long, although it was mentioned in bequests dated 1510 and 1513. The church remained under the ownership of the Knights Hospitallers until 1540, when the order was dissolved by Henry VIII. In 1533, Henry Fane left two chalices valued at £4. The west door is inscribed "WB 1637 ES". The tower and steeple were repaired in that year. The churchwardens were Walter Barton and Essau Simmons. In 1791, the clock was installed in the tower. It was made by John Thwaites of Clerkenwell. At the beginning of the 19th century, the church was in disrepair. In 1847, the chancel was rebuilt and the vestry added. In 1853, the south porch was blocked up. The north aisle was added in this year at a cost of £470, which was raised by public subscription. A private gallery was erected by Walter Barton May, owner of Hadlow Castle. This had its own private access and was located at the west end of the nave. In 1885, an altar reredos was erected to the memory of Sir William Yardley and his wife Amelia. Yardley was a former judge in the High Court of

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. In 1936, the gallery was removed. Work on the doorway at the west of the church in 1936 exposed some small crosses carved in the stonework. These are attributed to Nicholas de Hadloe and his son, who lived at Hadlow Place. They were carved to commemorate their safe return from the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...

in 1189. St Mary's was

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

on 20 October 1954. It is currently Grade II* listed.

Construction

St Mary's is mostly constructed from

ragstone Rag-stone is a name given by some architectural writers to work done with stones that are quarried in thin pieces, such as Horsham Stone, sandstone, Yorkshire stone, and the slate stones, but this is more properly flag or slab work. Near London ...

, with some ashlar detail and quoins of

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. T ...

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

. The church is built in the Early English and Decorated style. The chancel roof is of slate, while the nave and aisle roofs are tiled. The spire is covered in shingles. The stained glass windows date from the 19th and 20th centuries, the most recent of which is "The Visitation" created by

Francis Skeat Francis Walter Skeat (3 December 1909 – 31 August 2000) was an English glass painter who created over 400 stained glass windows in churches and cathedrals, both in England and overseas. Skeat was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Fellow ...

in 1956.

The Coverdale Chair

In 1919, the Coverdale Chair was presented to St Mary's by T E Foster MacGeagh of Hadlow Castle. The chair is so-named because it was owned by

Miles Coverdale Myles Coverdale, first name also spelt Miles (1488 – 20 January 1569), was an English ecclesiastical reformer chiefly known as a Bible translator, preacher and, briefly, Bishop of Exeter (1551–1553). In 1535, Coverdale produced the first c ...

, Bishop of Exeter, who made the first translation of the Bible into English. In 1954, the chair was transferred to

Rochester Cathedral Rochester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an English church of Norman architecture in Rochester, Medway, Rochester, Kent. The church is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rochester in the Church o ...

, but it was returned to St Mary's in 1967.

Bells

St Mary's has a ring of eight bells, hung for change ringing. The treble and 2nd were inscribed "Pack & Chapman of London Fecit 1775". They were recast in 1994 by the

Whitechapel Bell Foundry The Whitechapel Bell Foundry was a business in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. At the time of the closure of its Whitechapel premises, it was the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain. The bell foundry primarily made church bells ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. At this time, the third was welded and the frame renewed. The third is inscribed "Iames Bartlett Me Fecit 1696". The fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh are inscribed "Iames Bartlett Me Fecit 1695", and the tenor is inscribed "Henry Barton Edmond Norman Ch Wardens Andrew Reany Vicar 1695 Iames Bartlett Me Fecit".

Organ

The organ at the church was presented as a gift by Ernest Hargreaves (who married the then vicar's daughter) and was built by Alfred Monk of Camden in 1880. It has a brass plate that includes a quotation from verse 6 of

Psalm 150 Psalm 150 is the 150th and final psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Praise ye the . Praise God in his sanctuary". In Latin, it is known as "Laudate Dominum in sanctis eius". In Psalm 150, the psalmist ...

: It has 35 speaking stops on three manuals and pedal including principal stops, reed stops, flute stops, string stops and a 32 ft contrabass stop. The organ underwent major restoration in 1975 that was carried out by

Hill, Norman and Beard William Hill & Son & Norman & Beard Limited (commonly known as Hill, Norman and Beard) were a major pipe organ manufacturer originally based in Norfolk. History They were founded in 1916 by the merger of Norman and Beard and William Hill & Sons ...

. Prior to the restoration, it was suggested that the instrument should be replaced by an electric or electronic organ; this advice was not followed. The Victorian background of the organ is clearly displayed by the (later added) chamber surrounding it. The instrument is one of the largest village church organs in the south-east.

Organ specification

3 composition pedals each to Great and Swell; balanced swell pedal.

Memorials

Many memorials in St Mary's were destroyed in the rebuilding of the church between 1847 and 1853. A

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wit ...

commemorating John Stoke, vicar (d. 1370) was in existence in 1900, but has since disappeared. Other memorials were to Sir Ralph Colcoff, vicar (d. 1514) and Dame Elizabeth Gossand, wife of Henry Fane. Surviving memorials are to Thomas Barton of Goldhill (d. 1662) and Thomas May (d. 1714), both ancestors of the builders of Hadlow Castle. Several tablets in St Mary's are to various members of the Moneypenny family. Four generations of this family served as vicars between 1797 and 1952. There is a memorial to Sir John Rivers, former Lord Mayor and Sheriff of

, who was a lay rector at St Mary's, and his wife Joan. Rivers died in 1584, his wife in 1618. In the churchyard, there is a memorial in the shape of an

oast house An oast, oast house or hop kiln is a building designed for kilning (drying) hops as part of the brewing process. They can be found in most hop-growing (and former hop-growing) areas and are often good examples of vernacular architecture. Many re ...

to 30 hop-pickers who were killed in the Hartlake disaster, an accident that occurred while a wagon, taking around 40 hop-pickers and their families back to their camp site, was crossing the flood-swollen River Medway at the poorly maintained Hartlake Bridge on 20 October 1853. The monument is a Grade II listed building.

References

Sources

* *

External links

Official websiteStained Glass Windows at St Mary, Hadlow
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hadlow, Saint Mary Churches completed in 1018 11th-century church buildings in England 12th-century church buildings in England Saint Mary Church of England church buildings in Kent Grade II* listed churches in Kent Gothic architecture in England Diocese of Rochester