St Mary's Church Brook, is in the tiny parish of Brook, one of eight Kentish
parishes which make up the Ashford ward known as the Saxon Shore,
the other seven being Aldington, Bilsington, Bonnington, Brabourne,
Hastingleigh, Ruckinge and Smeeth. The Saxon Shore Way is an ancient
footpath which dates to the Roman occupation of Britain, and
connects Gravesend to Rye and further, and which connected the Roman
forts which used to exist along the coast. Brook gained its parish
church in the eleventh
century.
The Early Norman church lies approximately five
kilometres (three miles) north-east of Ashford, on The Street in
Brook, a village with a population today of a little over three
hundred. It was consecrated in about 1075 and contains space for
about 160 parishioners. The tower contains three bells, and when it
was struck by lightening in 1896, part of the north-west corner was
destroyed. The damage was restored in 1899.
St Mary's Church Brabourne is in a secluded and beautiful village, which lies at the foot of the North Downs. It dates mostly from the late twelfth
century. Among the features of special note are the unusually lofty
nave and chancel; the monument (built around 1600) to members of the
local Scott family, which also serves as the high altar (see next
photo); and one window with original late twelfth century stained
glass. The massive west tower was left unfinished and so rises only
a little higher than the nave roof.
The name of Brabourne is derived from
the Saxon 'Bradde Burne', or broad stream, although the hamlet was
mentioned in a Charter as early as AD 846 as 'Bredeburna'. Built in
about 1140, on the site of an earlier Saxon church, this Norman
building originally had four bells, but a further four were fitted
later. During the second phase of the Napoleonic Wars, between
1804-1815, the fields between Brabourne and the neighbouring parish
of Smeeth were used by the military, who constructed barracks, a
hospital, prisons and a mortuary. The area is known to this day as
Hospital Fields by older residents.
Four photos on this page contributed by Arthur
Percival. Additional text by Arthur Percival.
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