St Marys Church is the parish church in

Hadlow Hadlow is a village and civil parish 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 t ...

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 ...

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

. The church is a

Grade II* listed 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 ...

building.

History

The first record of a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

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, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...

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, Kent, River Bourne flows through the extreme west of the parish, and formerly powered a paper mill (River Bourne, Kent#Hamptons ...

, 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 Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

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-a ...

. 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 Serfdom, servants in an Peerage of England, English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in Kingdom of England, mid-1 ...

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, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are called co ...

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 Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

. 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 Clerkenwell ( ) is an area of central London, England. Clerkenwell was an Civil Parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish from the medieval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington. The St James's C ...

. 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 Hadlow Castle was an 18th-century country house in Hadlow, Kent, England, built in the fashionable Strawberry Hill 'Gothic' style. The house was gradually enlarged and extended during the 19th century and finally demolished in the 20th, apart ...

. 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 ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. 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 led by King Philip II of France, King Richard I of England and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187. F ...

in 1189. St Mary's was listed 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 Londo ...

, with some

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

detail and quoins of

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly 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 ...

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

. The church is built in the Early English and Decorated style. The chancel roof is of

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

, while the nave and aisle roofs are tiled. The spire is covered in

shingles Shingles, also known as herpes zoster or zona, is a viral disease characterized by a painful skin rash with blisters in a localized area. Typically the rash occurs in a single, wide mark either on the left or right side of the body or face. T ...

. The

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

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 ( – 20 January 1569), was an English ecclesiastical reformer chiefly known as a Bible translator, preacher, hymnist and, briefly, Bishop of Exeter (1551–1553). In 1535, Coverdale produced the fi ...

Bishop of Exeter The Bishop of Exeter is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. The current bishop is Mike Harrison (bishop), Mike Harrison, since 2024. From the first bishop until the sixteent ...

, 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 in Rochester, Kent, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Rochester and seat (''cathedra'') of the Bishop of Rocheste ...

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

Bells

St Mary's has a ring of eight bells, hung for

change ringing Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuning (music), tuned bell (instrument), bells in a tightly controlled manner to produce precise variations in their successive striking sequences, known as "changes". This can be by method ringing in ...

. 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 city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. 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 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 & So ...

. 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 and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

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

. 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 Lord mayor is a title of a mayor of what is usually a major city in a Commonwealth realm, with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign. However, the title or an equivalent is present in other countries, including forms such as "high mayor". A ...

and

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

, 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 oasthouse) or hop kiln is a building designed for kilning (drying) hops as part of the brewing process. Oast houses can be found in most hop-growing (and former hop-growing) areas, and are often good examples of agricultu ...

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 The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald AONB, High Weald, West Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a to ...

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 Buildings and structures completed in 1018 Churches completed in the 1010s 11th-century church buildings in England 12th-century church buildings in England

Saint Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

Church of England church buildings in Kent Grade II* listed churches in Kent Gothic architecture in England Diocese of Rochester