Newhouse Bible Christian Chapel, Eastling,
is on the eastern side of Otterden Road, about eight hundred metres
south of the Kettle Hill Road junction, directly south of Eastling
proper in the Newhouse hamlet. It is marked on the OS 25-inch map
of 1892-1914, although the present building may be a replacement
or an extended version based on its footprint. It remained in use
until perhaps shortly after the war (as per OS maps) before closing
to be converted for private use.
St Mary's Church, Eastling, is on the
north side of Kettle Hill Road, accessed at a point about 225
metres south-east of the Otterden Road junction. A Saxon church
existed here, but appears to have been entirely replaced by an
eleventh century building, of which only the base of the tower
and central chancel survives. The nave was a twelfth century
construction, the chancel is of the thirteenth century, and the
St Katherine Chapel from the fourteenth century.
In that same fourteenth century, and at the
same time as the chapel was being built, the chancel was extended
eastwards to create a sanctuary and an arcade was added near the
chapel. In 1855-1856 R C Hussey substantially rebuilt the nave,
north aisle, and south arcade, and completely re-roofed the nave
(unfortunately destroying many medieval features). The nave walls
are unusually thin - about sixty-one centimetres - attributed to
Saxon building techniques.
Eastling Mission Room stands on the
north side of Newham Lane, about 160 metres west of the Eastling
Road junction and a little farther west of the parish church
(above). It is shown on the OS 25-inch map of 1892-1914, with
additional buildings on its western flank (nearer the camera here).
By the time of the OS 1:25,000 of 1937-1961 it seems to have lost
its church connection. It is now a private residence with The Old
School House on its west flank.
The Church of St Peter & St Paul,
Newnham, sits at the south-west corner of The Street and Warren
Street in the centre of the village. The settlement developed in
the valley beneath a Briton hill fort. During the reign of Henry I
(1110-1135), Hugh de Newenham was lord of the manor and gained his
name from the village. He is believed to have built the original
manor house, as well as beginning the building of the church
(which is seen in these photos from 1999).
Hugh's son, Faulk de Newenham, founded Davington
Nunnery nearby in 1153, which held the church's advowson. The nunnery
had failed by the time of the Dissolution. The church itself was
built over the course of twenty years in the late thirteenth century.
The following century a chapel was added for the family at the manor
house, Champion Court. The church fell into decay in the late 1500s,
and was unsympathetically restored by the Revered James Bower in the
1860s.
