A GUIDE TO

THE PARISH CHURCH

OF

ALL SAINTS, SNODLAND

Web-site

allsaintswithchristchurch.org.uk

The Friends of All Saints (Registered Charity Number 1037103)

The Friends of All Saints was set up in 1995 to enable members of the commu- nity, whether churchgoers or not, to help care for this beautiful and fascinating building. They assist the Parochial Church Council in repairing and maintaining the building and in seeking to broaden and develop its use by the community.

Donations to ‘The Friends of All Saints Perpetual Fabric Fund’ can be made on- line via http://mydonata.bt.com/charities/thefriendsofallsaintsperpetualfabricfund.

Photographs in this guide are by the late Reginald Hunt and Andrews Ashbee

Engraving by William Tupeny (1820s) of the entrance with the original door. Plan of All Saints Church (not to scale) Features mentioned in the text (letters) and windows (numbers) families, whose memorials were noted earlier in the church. Their later burials are Beginnings in the cemetery. Exactly when the first church was built in Snodland we cannot say. St. Augustine landed in Kent in 597 A.D. and a church at Rochester was built in 604. This be- In 1873 Israel May, stationed at Snodland, was the first Kentish policeman to came the cathedral. Before long other churches sprang up nearby on the banks of have been murdered. His grave is in the north-west corner of the churchyard. This the Medway: Burham, Wouldham, Halling, Snodland, and Aylesford are all sited murder was national news and was widely reported. The funeral was attended by beside the river. Any such building would have been flimsy and just as likely as policemen representing the whole county. May’s assailant Thomas Atkins was the rest of the village to have been razed to the ground more than once as early arrested and he was transported to Australia for 20 years. invaders sailed up the Medway. Surviving Anglo-Saxon churches show that the The Hook family who owned the paper mill were Swedenborgians, so were not tradition of entering the building from the south side, as at All Saints, dates from involved with the parish church and they chose to be buried in Maidstone ceme- before the Norman Conquest. Certainly there is documentary evidence of a tery. One exception was Eustace, the youngest son and his wife, who are buried church here by 1000 A.D. north of the church. Of course this was the only burial ground in the parish, so all When All Saints was first built in stone, the workmen had some useful materials non-conformists as well as Church of England members are here. Extant memori- close at hand from the abandoned Roman Villa a few yards to the north. Some als cover the whole spectrum of society from labourers to managers. Further de- Roman tiles and 'tufa' can still be seen in tails and pictures of all the extant churchyard memorials can be seen at the older walls of the present building. www.snodlandhistory.org.uk . We can suppose that around 1100 All The Snodland Stones Prayer Walk Saints looked very like the other two early This installation was dedicated by the Archdeacon of Tonbridge on 22 June 2014. Norman churches of the parish, Pad- It is part of a larger vision to use the symbolically important location of All dlesworth (shown in the photograph) and Saints, where the Pilgrims Way crosses the River Medway, to make it a centre for Dode, although perhaps rather larger and learning, prayer and reflection around the theme of pilgrimage and spiritual jour- taller. neying. It . Perhaps it was the murder of Thomas a The prayer walk consists of a set of eight two-foot high stones each engraved with Becket at Canterbury which prompted the a traditional Christian symbol and arranged at different points around the church- substantial enlarging of the church during the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. How- yard close to the boundary wall. ever, this may just have been part of the great flowering of church building then in progress throughout the country; in those days parishioners (1) Celtic symbol of the Holy Trinity = God; were only too willing to bequeath money and materials to (2) Ichthus symbol = Jesus; maintain and beautify their church, and as a path to finding (3) Celtic cross = the New Covenant; favour with God. (4) Dove = Holy Spirit; (5) Boat with cross-shaped mast = Church/Fellowship; It seems likely that the original church building would have (6) Crown of thorns = Suffering and Hardship; been sited where the present nave is today, between the pil- (7) Scallop Shell = Pilgrimage/Journey of Life; lars. This space is about ten feet longer than the Paddlesworth (8) Oil Lamp = Witness/being a Light in the World. and Dode churches, but of similar width. The central part of the west wall is perhaps the only part of that earliest stone An apple tree was planted near the river on 3 June 2012 to mark the Queen’s Dia- building to survive. Above the west entrance to the church, mond Jubilee, while the gravestones are additional reminders of the Communion now largely obscured, is an ancient carved figure, finger on of All Saints. face, indicating silence on entering. The first major extension to the church was but this was removed by Rev. Phelps and the present window inserted to match the chancel (described later), probably built in the 1100 or 1200s, although it has the others. since undergone many changes. The west wall is likely to contain the oldest fabric of the building, since this is the only wall not to have been destroyed by later extensions — the aisles and chancel. The arch above the west window seems to be the remains of a Norman window before the present ‘Decorated’ one was inserted in the 1300s. This window was repaired in 1992; the buttress on the south is another 19th century addition and was used to carry the flue from a boiler installed at the west end. The original roof lines of the church before the aisles were built are clearly visible.

The west porch is mid-15th century in date and a Thomas Benet gave money to- wards building it in 1461. The niche above the door is actually what remains of the window once at the west end of the north aisle, which Phelps moved here so that he could replace it with the present two-light window. He had found the little window gave insufficient light for baptisms. In those days the porch was used as a vestry. The Churchyard

Two public footpaths ran through the churchyard from earliest times. One led to

the river and the other ran to the north to ground called ‘church fields’. Phelps became irritated by the noise of workmen using the ferry during Divine Service, so in 1848 he moved the path to run outside the church wall The churchyard was enlarged by half an acre in 1867 at the west and north sides, and a road for new houses replaced the other footpath. When the parish cemetery was opened in 1896 Expert opinion gives the arcades and pillars of the nave as late 13th century work, the churchyard was closed, except for a few burials for families wishing to be bur- suggesting that the north and south aisles were begun then. The pillars are thought ied with their forebears. Many memorials were moved to the north side of the to have developed in two stages, at first supporting a single roof, which can be churchyard in the 1950s to aid maintenance, but unfortunately no record was traced outside in the west and east end walls. Afterwards the construction of the made of the original positions. two aisles required the pillars to be modified, as the roof was splayed wider. A Near the entrance is a large cross erected by Rev. Phelps in 1846. This is standing th 19 century expert on mediaeval glass, Charles Winston, noted that the north aisle on the mediaeval market cross steps which were moved by him from their village 'has windows of a rather later character than those in the south side'. If the pat- site outside the former Red Lion inn. Nearby a table tomb to the Wray family, terns of the top tracery windows are compared, it can be seen that the older farmers at Paddlesworth c.1650-1750, is the earliest memorial now in the church- ‘Decorated’ set has four leaves (‘quaterfoil’) and the later ‘Early Perpendicular’ yard. one has eight. Originally there were quaterfoil windows on each side of the chan- cel too, presumably added at the same time as the south aisle, but the one on the The grave of Thomas Fletcher Waghorn is in the corner beside the vestry door; south was removed in the 19th century. Just to confuse the issue further only one many relatives, including the Fletchers, Goodhughs and Gorhams, are nearby, in a of the two west-end windows in the church is original; that on the north side was group dating back to the eighteenth century. Among these too are the Manleys, maltsters who lived in the mediaeval hall-house still in the High Street. built in the 1840s to match that on the south; the adjacent north-side window is also a 19th century copy, but of the later type. On the north side of the church is a table tomb to members of the Lee and Roberts tensively damaged. The easternmost window is The Tower now filled with ‘The Annunciation’ by Hugh th The tower was added in the early 15 century, and, to- Easton [13], having the caption ‘This window is gether with the little west porch of c.1461, was the last placed here as a thank-offering for the safety of this part of the mediaeval church to have been built. It incor- church, 1956’. porates a priest's room on the first floor (the clergy were Above the windows in the north aisle are fragments not allowed to marry before 1561) which could have of emblems of St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John (St served as a home for the rector or his curate. There is a Matthew, now lost, was at the east end). Some fire-place and probably the ceiling was lower than it is panes are 15th century and others are 19th century today. The remains of a substantial lock on the door sug- copies, but their original gest that the room may later have been used as the vil- forms are now very jum- lage lock-up, after a rectory had been built elsewhere. bled. Two ancient benches once formed part of the furniture Snodland has some fine of the room, but today are in the church. It seems prob- Victorian glass windows, able that they and one of the best is that were made from in the north wall, second from the east: ‘In memory of J. very early church doors, which were ei- G. le Marchant Carey, M.A., for eight years Rector of ther here on the south side, or at the west- this Parish, obiit March 17, [18]85’ [14]. ern entrance. One shows a rebate on the under side, while the other has markings Carey oversaw the major restoration of 1869-70 and on for hinges. The ancient door now at the leaving in 1874 became vicar of Boreham, Essex and back of the nave was for the new tower Archdeacon of Essex 1882-5. Parishioners in both par- entrance. It has some early iron work and ishes contributed to the cost of this window, which is by a 'sanctuary knob' - offering the church's Heaton, Butler & Bayne and was installed on 8 Novem- sanctuary to any miscreant who could seize it before capture. ber 1885. Early 15th century bosses, salvaged from The two lights in the window at the west end of the north aisle are more frag- the nave roof in the early 19th century ments from windows destroyed in 1941 [15]. The central parts show the Crucifix- because it had decayed, adorn the roof of ion and Ascension from a window by ‘Miller’, perhaps William, a relative of the the tower entrance. On the east wall is more famous Joseph Hale Miller (1777-1842), who seems to have inherited Jo- an indent to a lost brass [a] which is seph’s business. This was in memory of Captain William Henry Roberts, husband thought to commemorate William Ali- of Ann, who died on 25 July 1848. Other fragments include parts of the arms of sander. He died in 1469 and is buried in Eleanor of Castille and from a figure of Christ, all from the late 1200s. the porch in front of the doorway. Dividing the tower from the church is a wood Exterior: main features partition [R] formed from what remains of the Rood Screen, which once sepa- The north wall of the chancel is perhaps the best place to see the pieces of Roman rated the nave from the chancel. The bays are now blocked with tin. It is possible material used to repair the building. Here and in the west wall are tiles and tufa that another part of the screen is now placed under the gallery in Paddlesworth church. Originally there were two room-like extensions to the screen in the north robbed from an extensive Roman villa which once existed about 100 yards to the north of the church. There was formerly a door at the west end of the north side, and south aisles of the nave, each running from the easternmost pillars to the east brother to the William buried in the tower porch and external walls. At Snodland the one on the south served as the Rood-Loft, from which the Rector would read the lessons The stone memorial to Martha Manley (d. 29 March and other required texts. The doorways giving access to this 1682) [g], was commissioned by her husband Sir Rich- loft remain in the south wall, although the little tower outside ard Manley; they were later occupants of Holloway which once housed the steps has vanished – as have steps Court. This memorial is believed to have been carved which must once have been needed to reach the lower door. at the workshop of Arthur Quellin and Grinling Gib- The doors now providing the entrance to the church were those bons, probably by Artus Quellin III. Richard’s own which originally gave access through the screen to the chancel. grave was revealed in 2002 under the floor when a There are two finely carved figures of St Anne and The Virgin central heating pipe was laid, while Martha’s is still Mary which a hundred years ago Francis Eeles, a leading hidden nearby. church historian, described as Belgian, 14th century. No doubt William Lee came to Snodland in 1843 as owner of other larger statues would have been placed above on either the cement works. He was also MP for Maidstone for side of the central figure of the crucified Christ, as was common to all Rood 17 years, and a churchwarden here. He, his daughter Screens. Ann Roberts and her son William Henry paid for much of the work undertaken The South Aisle during the restoration of 1870 and after. On the north wall is a brass to William The ‘Palmer window’ [2] Lee (d. 29 September 1881) and his wife Christiana (d. 14 December 1871). [j] was originally at the east Beside it is a memorial to Samuel Lee (1827- end of the north aisle and 1852) [k], son of William, and a partner in the commemorated Thomas firm. Further west is a brass to Frederick Rook- Palmer, d. 1407; the other hurst Roberts (1881-1959) [l], a grandson of Wil- figure is of St James the liam Lee, who lived at Aylesford and who man- Great. Little if any of the aged the pottery there. mediaeval glass remains in At the east end of the north aisle is a fine memo- the window, which was rial window to ‘Willie Emerson Dedrick J.P., Pa- ‘repaired and put together per Maker, High Sheriff of Kent 1952. 10 May by Ward and Nixon’ c.1840, 1885 – 18 March 1963’ [12]. He and his father but suffered damage again were successively managing directors of the paper from a land-mine in 1941. mill. Made by Moira Forsyth (1905-1991) from a Beside the entrance from the rare type of glass, a paper-like texture is part of tower is the parish war me- the design. The main window commemorates the morial to all those who lost pilgrimage to Canterbury and shows St Thomas a their lives in the First World Becket in the left light and in the other his sister, who was abbess of Barking, leading a group of War [m]. It lists 143 names. pilgrims. All Saints is on the Pilgrims’ Way that ran from Winchester to Canter- A rare incised carving appears on the middle pillar of the south side. [C] Early bury. The Dedrick crest is at the top and the window was given by Doris Dedrick wills refer to it as the ‘Holy Cross’ and before the Reformation it had its own al- in 1966. tar. From William Bereman on 20 May 1442 to William Tylghman on 13 Febru- ary 1541, who wished to be buried “in ye parisshe churche of Snodland...before The north wall received the full blast of the nearby land mine in 1941 so was ex- The font [F] is believed to date from the 1400s, the Crucifix there”, at least thirty bequests of money or but marks for four pillars in the base show that goods were made “to the sustentacion of the Torches once there was an earlier form. The cover was [Candles]” around the “Holy Cross”. Although a visitor given by Rev. G. H. Jackson (rector 1895-1906) mentioned seeing it in 1829, it was re-discovered under in memory of his son Lothian Stephen, who died whitewash in 1870 and was crudely (re)-painted. An aged 16 in 1902. expert has recently pointed out that it is rare if not In the 16th century it was decreed that a box unique for the figure of Mary on the right to be covering should be kept in church in which the parishion- her face with her hands. ers could place donations for the poor of the At the east end of the south aisle other discoveries were parish. Snodland's chest or ‘poor boxe’ is mentioned in 1548 and could be older made during the 1870 renovation. A piscina, where the still; it is apparently made from the same planks as the benches mentioned earlier. priest would wash his hands before administering com- The three keys were kept by the rector and two churchwardens, so no one person munion, or possibly an aumbry for holding the commun- could abscond with the proceeds. Two chairs in the chancel have backs fashioned ion vessels, was found [P]. Presumably this served an in Jacobean times, although the remaining parts are later. The pulpit was a gift altar nearby. More intriguing, to the left of this is a low from Mrs. Ann Roberts in 1871. The fine brass lectern was a gift from the widow entrance perhaps giving access to a vault [V], or, as of Rev. Finch-Smith, who died suddenly in 1909, aged only 41; parishioners con- some have speculated, to a room for a hermit guarding tributed a litany desk in his memory. the river-crossing. This was re-discovered in 2002, although in the 1840s the rec- Full descriptions of all the memorials now in the church, together with pictures of tor recorded ‘the remains of a Crypt or underground Cellar’ here. It may, of them can be seen at www.snodlandhistory.org.uk Those now lost are also de- course, have just given access to a burial vault. We should mention at this point scribed there, as are the memorial windows. that the present nave floor was laid on top of the original one in 1905. Some me- morials were moved and some remain hidden beneath. The North Aisle On the south wall is a memorial to Thomas Parish charity boards on the north wall [B] tell of William Alisander (1469), giv- Fletcher Waghorn (1800-1850) [b]. Wag- ing bread ‘for ever’, but nothing is known of this; Edward Godden (1662): fund- horn’s grandfather, John Goodhugh, lived at ing apprenticeships, which still continues; John May (1800): establishing free Holborough and his mother moved there too places for scholars of Snodland, Birling and Halling at the after her husband died in 1826. Waghorn’s life National School, and another to provide great-coats for was dedicated to speeding communication deserving poor of the parish; Mary Gorham: for assisting between England, India and the East and his deserving parishioners, distributed through the Parochial name is particularly associated with establish- Church Council. ing the Overland Route to India through In the north aisle are many memorials to residents of the Egypt. His career is summarised on the me- principal estate in Snodland: Holloway, later Holborough, morial. He built a substantial house in the up- Court. The oldest is an attractive brass to Edward and Mar- per High Street once his time in Egypt had garet Bischoptre [h]. Edward died on 1 September 1487; ended, and it was his home for the last ten Margaret died on 16 November 1487. They were residents years of his life. His grave is outside the ves- at Holborough prior to the Tilghmans mentioned earlier try door. and Margaret was a daughter of Geoffrey Alisander, The grave of William Tilghman, died 1541, and his wives Isabel and destruction. The easternmost window mixes 15th century work with 19thand 20th Joan, died 1548, are com- century copies of the panes [9]. The ‘green man’ in the centre was formerly in the memorated by a brass [c]. window where the organ now is. In the centre window [10] are fragments of very He asked to be buried early glass from the late 1200s (such as the black and red pieces – the latter asso- beside the painted cruci- ciated with a figure of Christ); the leaves at the top are dated to c.1350. The large fix, so the memorial was window at the west end of the chancel [11], installed in 1962, has more emblems probably moved when the of saints by Hugh Easton: new floor was put in. The St Christopher Tilghmans were among the principal residents of their day St.Edward the Confessor St. Cuthbert and lived at Holloway Court in Holborough from the late St. Alban St. Wilfred 1400s until about 1650. St. Hugh St. Hubert A nearby brass is to Roger Perot (d. 17 September 1486) [d]. He is in civilian St. Maurice St. Jerome dress and may have been a relative of John Perot, the Rector here from 1469 to St. Francis St. David 1499. St. Augustine St. Patrick To balance the Palmer window in the north aisle, Rev. Phelps commissioned the St. Cyprian St. Botolph figures of St. Peter and St. Paul [3], which were moved here from the east win- St. Sebastian St. Adrian dow of the aisle in 1909. They were made by Ward and Nixon and imitate a medi- aeval style. The Nave The easternmost window [4] is in memory of Ann In 1905 a further extensive restoration of the church was undertaken by Robert Roberts, a great benefactor to the church, who died Langridge of Ham Hill, directed by the Maidstone architect Hubert Bensted. New on 11 August 1881. The window showing ‘The six seating was provided in the nave and aisles and all vestiges of earlier pews were acts of mercy’ was designed by Canon Matthew Par- removed. Many repairs were made to the walls and to the bases of the columns rington of Chichester, father to John, the Snodland and a new floor was laid over the old one. Floor tiling was repaired, renewed and curate between 1874 and 1880. Installed in 1883, it extended. The vestry was enlarged to its present size and in 1909 the door from was made by William George Taylor of Berners the nave was provided as a memorial to Robert Allender and his wife, former pa- Street, London (1822-1897). rishioners. Stained glass given by Rev. Phelps can be seen in the vestry window Above the chancel arch are two small windows [5] and was first installed where the organ now is. which would have helped to light the Rood Loft. Furniture and fittings They were discovered during repairs in 1828 and the glass in them is by Thomas Williment (1786-1871). High boxed pews probably once filled the church – although there were none in The marks where the Rood Screen was attached can the mediaeval period - including a special one for the 'squire' of Holborough. He still be seen cut into the sides of the arch. also had his own fireplace, part of which remains under the plaster at the east end of the north aisle, revealed during repairs in 1992. Another pew for the farmer of The Rector from 1804 to 1865 was Henry Dampier Paddlesworth was added to the chancel in 1712, by special permission of the rec- Phelps, nephew of the Bishop of Rochester, and he tor. Both pews were removed in the later 19th century and a succession of second- did much to beautify and restore the church, spend- hand and new pews for parishioners have since adorned the nave. ing around £1650 of his own money between 1819 and 1853. In 1941 a land mine and ‘An Angel offering incense’ [7]. They are by destroyed most of the rich collection of ancient glass then in the church. Frag- Henry Hughes (1822-1883) and were presented ments have been re-instated haphazardly, but much has been lost. Fortunately, during Holy Week in 1870. Hughes was origi- between the 1820s and 1840s Charles Winston, a lawyer and authority on mediae- nally a member of the firm of Ward and Nixon, val glass, made full-size paintings of all that was here then, and these can be seen whose work is seen elsewhere in the church. It at www.cvma.ac.uk under ‘Snodland’. seems that Winston had recommended them to In 1869-70 Sir Arthur William Blomfield (1829-1899) supervised a major restora- Phelps as a firm able to create the mediaeval or tion of the church. He was known to be an architect sympathetic to preserving ‘gothic’ style then returning to fashion. existing style and fabric and here he altered relatively little. His only major re- The east window has emblems of saints by Hugh building was of the south wall of the chancel as described below. . Easton (1906-1965), replacing a window of four Less clear is what part he Protestant martyrs which Phelps had commis- played in designing the deco- sioned in 1846 as part of the re-built east wall. That was destroyed in 1941, and rative tiles on floor and walls Easton’s window was installed in 1953. and other features, which were largely paid for by pa- EAST WINDOW [8] rishioners, but it is likely that HILDA MARGARET CATHERINE CECILIA MARY BRIDGET they too were part of his (snakes) OF (wheel) (organ) (silver (lamp) plans. Here is the Reredos ANTIOCH MARY ANNE jar) behind the altar, donated by (dragon’s head) (heart) (lily) William Henry PHILIP SIMON JOHN BAPTIST ANDREW Roberts. The (crossed crosses) (saws) (cross) (cross) three other pic- GEORGE STEPHEN LEONARD OSWALD tures show suc- (cross) (stone & palms (manacles) (green cross) cessively some of the tiles on the MATTHIAS JOHN MATTHEW JAMES (dice) (eagle) (angel) (shells) east wall and on the sanctuary EDMUND DUNSTAN MICHAEL THOMAS OF floor, donated by (crown & arrows) (chalice) (cross) CANTERBURY Ann Roberts, and tiles on the chancel floor, donated by William Lee. He also paid (bird) for others, very similar to these to be placed in the nave. THOMAS LUKE MARK BARTHOLOMEW (spears) (winged bull) (winged lion) (knives) NICHOLAS BARNABAS LAWRENCE MARTIN (discs) (rose) (gridiron) (crossed sceptres) JUDE PAUL PETER JAMES THE LESS (ship) (swords) (keys) (clubs)

The north side windows contain some of the earliest glass retrieved after the 1941 on the north side of the chancel nearest the east end, but the third was bricked in when replaced by the much larger 14th century one now there. A similar window to this once existed at the east end of the south wall, but was removed when re- quired by Blomfield’s restoration in 1870. Here he provided two new windows to match the other ‘Decorated’ ones and created a space for a pipe organ with a small vestry behind, as shown in this photograph of 1904. A new pipe organ by Henry Bevington was inaugurated on 15 September 1870 following the renova- tions, the builder himself playing the instrument, but this was replaced by the pre- sent instrument of Samuel Dalladay in May 1909, half the cost being met with a grant from the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, one of whose trusts was to assist parishes to provide church organs.

The Chancel

The chancel is large and has been much altered over the years. It dates from the 13th century. This is confirmed by the fine sedilia [S] – a seat for the priests and deacons to use – with its beautiful carved top and two heads at each base. Early pictures show that the rails dividing the sanctuary from the choir once separated the higher and lower seats. In fact the floors of both sanctuary and choir have been raised more than once; originally they were level with the nave. Alongside There are two brasses in the chancel: (1) to an unknown man and two ladies, pre- the sedilia is a piscina [P], where the priest would wash his hands before handling sumably his wives [e]. The inscription is lost, but the brass dates from around the bread and wine for communion at the high altar. The east wall was completely 1530. (2) on the north wall: to John [Brigge or Brugge], son of the Lancaster Her- rebuilt in 1846 because it had become unstable, although the rector took pains to ald (d. 10 June 1441) [f]. Richard Brigge, appointed by Henry IV, was the only ensure that the large ‘Early English’ window was preserved and he ordered the Lancaster King at Arms ever made. This brass was originally on the floor, which Creed and Lord’s Prayer to be cut into the two side panels. Behind the curtain is a is probably where it lost its head. reredos given by William Henry Roberts, while the surrounding tiles were a gift Beside the north wall is the grave of John Walwyn, Rector here from 1681 to from his mother Ann. 1713 [g].

Originally there would have been six Norman windows north and south, but some For the new windows in the south wall Evelina Hook, wife of Eustace, youngest were replaced early on by 'Decorated' windows of c.1300. Two of these survive child of the family who owned the paper mill, donated ‘The Good Shepherd’ [6]